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A  Quarter  Century 

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Public  Health  Work 
In  Michigan 


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THE    STATE    BOARD    OF    HEALTH 


AND 


A  QUARTER  CENTURY 


OF 


PUBLIC-HEALTH   WORK   IN  MICHIGAN 


reply  to  Yours  of 
AUg;-?--^  1899. 


Office  of  tlie  Secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Health. 

Lansing,-^  Midi., i^^^-^v±A-^ ^^^^' 


-     r.   ^..^....^--r^TrrrnrrtTr-^  "A  Quarter  century  of 

which  -rras  an  announce  of  a  Jf^^  ^J^^opernan^t 

last  AuguGt   in  Detroit  and  ^as  oi  no_ 

value.    It   is  out  of  P^int^       /; 

Terz/  respectfully,     fryUyu/  Vv^'^^^:^-/^^:^' 


Robert  Smith  Printing  Co.,  State  Printers  and  Binders, 

Lansing,  Michigan. 


r 


^^^"^     <yb^    PoSTAlCa 


lilMyyj|»k^>>: 


THIS    SIDE    IS   FOR 


THE    STATE    BOARD    OF    HEALTH 


AND 


A  QUARTER  CENTURY 


OF 


PUBLIC-HEALTH   WORK   IN  MICHIGAN 


HY 

THEO.    R.    MacCLURE, 

Chief   Clerk   State   Board  of  Health   Office, 
LANSING,  MICHIGAN. 


[Reprint  No.  524.] 


[Supplement  to  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Michigan  State  Board  of  Health  for  1397. 


WITH   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Robert  Smith  Printing  Co.,  State  Printers  and  Binders, 

Lansing,  Michig.\n. 


PUBLIC        -^ 

UBRAR^' 

"Hygiene  aims  at  rendering-  growth  more  perfect,  life  more  vigorous,  decay 
less  rapid,  death  more  remote." 

Edmund  A.  Parkes,  M.  D.,  F.  R.  S. 
»    • 
'['■     ''.'Everi^  nqdiFj^ii^l  shall  be  taught  to  become  the  intelligent  custodian  of  his 

own  health."  '    '    *'     , 

-     •   '  •■ 

Sir  James  Coxe. 


~         TRUTH.        1 


W^*"^'^'0 


D^iPwaT  "i-^i' 


hiMm^ 


Membership  of  Board  in  1898. 


Hon.  Frank  Weli^s,  President,  -        .        -        - 

Frkd  R.  Belknap,  M.  D., 

Samuel  G.  Milner,  M.  D., 

Frederick  G.  Now,  Sc.  D.,  M.  D., 

Hon.  Aaron  V.  McAlvay,  -        .        _        _        _ 

Prof.  Delos  Fall,  Sc.  D.,      - 

Henry  B.  Baker,  M.D.,  Secretary  mid  Executive  Officer,  Lansing-. 


Lansing". 

Niles. 

Grand  Rapids. 

Ann  Arbor. 

Manistee. 

Albion. 


K" 


Preface. 

Having  been  connected  with  the  office  of  the  State  r.oard  oi  Ilcalih  lor  nearly 
a  decade,  having  observed  during  that  period  tlie  nnscjltish,  faiihlul  and  philan- 
thropic worli  of  its  members,  and  having  noted  with  intorest  tlie  advanced  stand  it 
has  talj;en  on  subjects  bearing  directly  and  indirectly  upon  public-healih  work, 
in  a  letter  dated  Sept.  15,  189G,  I  respectfully  requested  that  the  Board  grant  me 
permission  to  compile  a  record  of  the  labors  and  achievements  of  the  Michigan 
State  Board  of  Health  which  should  include  brief  sketches  of  its  members  fn»m  the 
time  of  its  organization.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  hold  .Tnnunry  S,  1807.  it  was 
voted  that  this  request  be  granted.  Therefore  I  have  prepared  the  following 
pages  which  are  intended  to  exhibit  "A  Quarter  Century  of  I'ublic-Health  Work  in 
Michigan"  and  respectfully  dedicate  them  to  the  president,  secretary,  members  and 
ex-members  of  the  Michigan  State  Board  of  Health. 

THEO.  K.  MacCLUI:E. 

Lansing,  Michigan, 

July.  1898. 


i-K:>i\  \f:^i\ 


CONTENTS. 

Page 
Title  Pag-e 1 

List  of  Present  Members  of  Board 2 

Preface    3 

Contents   5 

Biographical    Sketches,    with    engraved    likenesses 6 

Sanitary  Knowledg-e   Twenty-five    Tears   Ago 7 

Advancement   in    Sanitary    Knowledgre 8 

How  the  State  Board  Came   to  be  Established 8 

Organization  of  a  Public-Health  Service  for  the  State 10 

By-laws  of  the  Michig-an  State  Board  of  Health 11 

Duties  of  Local  Health  Officials 13 

Compensation   for    Local    Health   Work 14 

Co-operation  of   the  People  with   Health  Ofl^cials 15 

Injuries  and  Loss  of  Life  and  Property  Consequent  on  the  use  of  Kerosene,  Gasoline, 

etc.,  and  the  Establishment  of  State  Inspection  of  Illuminating-  Oils 15 

Poisonous   Wall  Papers,    etc Ii5 

Resuscitation   of   the   Drowned   and   Electrically   Shocked 17 

Ventilation 17 

Examinations   in   Sanitary   Science 18 

Meteorolog"ical   Statistics   19 

Sickness    Statistics    19 

Bulletins  of  "Health  in  Michigan" 20 

What  are  the  Dangerous  Communicable  Diseases? 20 

Michigan  Plan  for  the  Restriction  of  the  Dangerous  Diseases 21 

Communicable-Disease   Statistics    22 

Vital  Statistics,— Mortality  Statistics 22 

Life-Saving    in    Michigan    by    Public-Health    Work 23 

Money  Value   of  Public-Health   M^ork 24 

State  Live  Stock  Sanitary  Commission 2t 

Animals'  Diseases  Dangerous  to  Man 25 

Michigan  Plan  for  Sanitary  Conventions 25 

Conferences  of  Health  Officers  in  Michigan 26 

Educational    Campaig-n 26 

Isolati  .n    Hospitals 27 

Educational  Hospital  or  Home  for  Consumptives 27 

Sanitary   Science  in  the   Schools 28 

Alcohol    and    Narcotics ^ 

Coroners  and  Coroners'  Inquests 30 

Inspection  of  State  Institutions  and  Public   Buildings 31 

Advice  Relative  to  Systems  of  Sewerage  and  Water  Supply 32 

Surface    and    Sub-Soil    Drainage 33 

Michigan,   a  Summer  Resort  and  Health   Resort  State 33 

Abatemc  nt   of   Nuisances 34 

A'enereal    Diseases 34 

Transportation    of    Dead    Bodies 3o 

Vaccination    and    Revaccination 36 


Page 

Michig'an    Inspection    of    Immigrants 37 

Notices  of  Possibly-Infected  Immigrants  Destined  to  Michigan 38 

Inter-State  Notification  of  Dangerous  Communicable  Diseases 38 

State.  Laboratory   of  Kygiene 39 

Tyrotoxicon— Cheese    Poison 40 

Disinfection   Day - 40 

Sanitary    Day    41 

Carbon    Dioxide    in   the   Atmosphere 41 

Regulation  of  the  Practice  of  Medicine 42 

Legislative   Investigations 42 

The  Friends  of  Public-Health  Work. 43 

Publications   of   the   Board 44 

The  State  Board  of  Health  Library  and  its  Card  Catalogue , 44 

State  Board  of  Health  Exhibit  at  World's  Fair  and  Tennessee  Centennial 45 

What  Outsiders  Think  of  the  Work  of  the  Board 45 

The    Presidents 46 

The  Veteran   Secretary 46 

The    Members 47 


Biographical  Sketches,  with  Engraved  Likenesses. 

Opposite 
page. 

Ira  H.  Bartholomew,  M.  D 10 

Homer  Owen  Hitchcock,  A.  M.,  M.  D 11 

Robert  Clark  Kedzie,  A.  M.,  M.  D 14 

Zenas  Emory  Bliss,  M.  D 15 

Rev.  Charles  Henry  Brigham,  A.  B 18 

Henry  Francis  Lyster,  A.  M.,  M.  D 19 

Rev.   John  S.   Goodman 22 

Arthur   Hazelwood.    M.    D 23 

Rev.  Daniel  Cook  Jacokes,  A.  :M.,  D.  D 26 

Hon.    LeRoy    Parker 27 

Prof.   John  Harvey  Kellogg,   M.   D 30 

Edwin  Atson  Strong.  A.   B.,  A.   M 31 

Hon.   John   Avery,    M.    D 32 

Victor  C.   Vaughan.   M.   S.,   M.   D.,   Sc.   D.,   Ph.   D 33 

Columbus    V.    Tyler,    M.    D 34 

Prof.   Delos   Fall,   B.    S.,   M.   S 35 

Mason   Wilbur  Gray,    B.    S.,    M.    D 36 

Hon.    Frank    Wells 37 

Samuel  George  Milner,  A.  B.,  A.  M.,  M.  D 38 

Hon.  George  H.  Granger,  M.  D 39 

Judge  Aaron  Vance  McAlvay,  A.   B.,   LL.  B , 40 

Fred  Rice  Belknap.  B.  S.,  M.  D 41 

Frederick  George   Novy,   B.    S.,    Sc.    D.,    M.    D 42 

Henry  Brooks  Baker,  A.  M.,  M.  D 43 

Certificate  of   Thanks 44 


Sanitary  Knowledge  Twenty=five  Years  Ago. 

Sanitary  knowledge  twenty-five  years  ago  can  be  best  judged  by  the  literatui*e 
of  that  period,  and  tlie  literature  of  that  period  was  not  onlj-  meagre  but  exceed- 
ingly indefinite.  Among  the  people  generally'  those  in  sympathy  Avith  sanitary 
worli  were  in  the  small  minority.  The  prevailing  opinions  were  that  such  diseases 
as  diphtheria,  scarlet  fever,  etc.,  were  due  to  climatic  conditions,  to  filth,  were  the 
will  of  God;  and  many  superstitious  beliefs  were  prevalent.  One  superstitution 
was  that  diphtheria  could  be  prevented  if  a  wafer  previously  moistened  in  a  dipth- 
theric  mouth  was  placed  in  the  mouth  of  the  individual  to  be  protected.  Even 
physicians  who  stood  high  in  their  profession  were  in  doubt  concerning  tlie  origin 
of  dangerous  diseases.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  however,  typhoid  fever  was 
then  believed  by  some  to  be  not  only  a  comnmnicable  but  a  contagious  disease, 
that  the  materics  morhi  were  spread  by  direct  contact,  and  through  the  air. 

At  this  period  the  germ  theoiy  of  disease  was  in  its  infancy;  it  was  hardly  an 
hypothesis.  It  was  not  uncommon  to  have  authors  with  seeming  sincerity  char- 
acterize the  so-called  germs  as  iictions  of  the  imagination.  "Most  of  those  who 
did  believe  in  germs  held  the  doctrine  of  spontaneous  generation.  However,  there 
were  those  more  advanced  minds  who  believed  that  certain  maladies  were  due 
to  living  germs,  organisms  capable  of  multiplication,  organisms  whicli  when  intro- 
duced into  the  body  produced  poisons  that  were  fatal  to  human  life.  But  the 
exact  nature  of  the  microscopic  organisms,  how  they  grew,  liow  they  were  intro- 
duced into  the  human  body,  were  unsolved  questions. 

It  was  known  that  vaccination  was  a  preventive  of  small-pox.  bin  its  popularity 
was  hampered  by  the  frequent  bad  effects  from  the  application  of  contaminated 
virus. 

Concerning  the  other  dangerous  communicable  diseases,  there  was  practically 
no  restrictive  or  preventive  measures  in  force;  they  were  either  unknown  or  dis- 
regarded. Isolation  of  the  patient  suffering  from  such  a  disease  was  thought 
to  be  an  act  of  barbarism,  a  cruelty  to  the  patient,  a  hardship  lo  the  family. 
Disinfection  of  clothing,  rooms,  etc.  was  not  often  practiced. 

Heating  by  means  of  stoves,  fire-places,  and  other  direct  means,  had  been 
and  were,  at  that  time,  the  methods  employed;  drainage  for  healtli  or  for  any 
other  purpose  was  not  a  matter  of  science;  sewerage  and  the  sanitary  disposal 
of  waste  and  excreta  was  but  infrequently  employed,  outside  of  the  large  cities. 

Sanitary  knowledge  twenty-five  years  ago  was  not  in  the  possession  of  the 
thousands  as  it  is  today. 


8  A  Quarter  Century  of  Public-Health 

Advancement  in  Sanitary  Knowledge. 

Since  the  work  of  Pasteur,  Koch,  Loffler,  Behring,  Eberth,  Klein,  Kitisato,  and 
.o.thers,  preyentive  sanitation  has  come  to  stand  on  a  sound  footing;  the  theory  of  the 
'oausatidti  (if 'specinc  disease  by  germs  has  become  a  science.  There  is  no  longer 
doubt  concerning  the'.matetHes  morM  of  communicable  diseases;  germs  of  such  dis- 
eases. hJare '^been;  i^lsi'ted,  have  been  grown  in  the  laboratoi*y,  have  been  Inoculated 
into  and  the  disease  has  been  produced  in  animals.  From  these  animals  germs  have 
been  isolated,  other  animals  inoculated  with  these  minute  organisms,  and  the  dis- 
ease produced  as  before.  This  process  may  be  continued  indefinitely,  and  furnishes 
the  strongest  possible  evidence  that  each  of  these  diseases  is  due  to  a  special 
germ.  Although  progress  has  been  comparatively  rapid,  new  claims  along  this 
line  have  needed  to  stand  the  crucial  test  of  confirmative  independent  researches 
by  a  number  of  investigators,  and  public  liuowledge  has  come  by  continuous 
and  vigorous  efforts  of  the  leaders  in  scientific  work.  The  specific  germs  of  certain 
dangerous  diseases  have  been  discovered,  studied,  and  their  nature  learned.  As 
a  result  of  this  knowledge  mortality  from  various  infectious  diseases  has  dimin- 
ished, and  sanitation  has  revolutionized  the  methods  of  living  of  both  poor  and 
rich. 

In  Michigan  nearly  every  public  building  and  many  residences  are  now  supplied 
with  the  improved  methods  of  heating  and  ventilating,  and  the  cold  or  vitiated 
dwellings  and  public  buildings  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  have  become  less 
and  less  common;  systeais  of  sewerage  and  drainage  are  to  be  found  in  nearly 
every  city  and  village  of  any  size;  the  construction  of  house-drains  and  sewers 
is  more  perfect,  better  material  is  used,  traps  are  ventilated;  and  many  other 
improvements  in  accordance  with  modern  knowledge  have  been  adopted. 

Some  of  this  advancement  in  knowledge  and  practical  sanitation  may  be  justly 
claimed  as  a  result  of  the  educational  campaign  of  the  Michigan  State  Board  of 
Health. 

How  the  State  Board  Came  to  be  Established. 

About  the  only  public-health  work  that  had  been  done  in  this  country,  up  to 
the  time  of  the  movement  for  a  State  Board  of  Health,  had  been  done  in  the 
army.  The  army  physician's  pay  did  not  depend  upon  the  number  of  patients 
he  had,  but  the  extent  of  his  labors  did  have  a  direct  relation  to  the  number  of 
his  patients.  The  instructions  from  the  Surgeon-General's  office  were  voluminous^ 
and  related  almost  exclusively  to  the  prevention  of  sickness  among  soldiers.  Three 
years'  experience  as  an  army  surgeon  undoubtedly  gave  Doctor  Baker  the  idea 
that  a  State  public-health  service  would  be  of  value. 

In  Michigan  there  was  a  State  Board  of  Agriculture  created  to  look  after  the 
interests  of  the  agriculturalists,  and  it  became  apparent  to  the  father  of  public- 
health  work  in  Michigan  that  the  health  interests  would  equally  warrant  the 
establishment  of  a  State  Board  to  promote  those  interests. 


Work  in  Michigan,  1873-1S98.  :> 

One  of  Doctor  Baker's  first  efforts  iu  ibis  direction  was  to  interest  Doctor  I.  11. 
Bartholomew  of  Lansing,  his  partner  in  the  practice  of  medicine  dnring  tlie  years 
1SG6-6S.  In  1870  the  effort  was  renewed,  but  Doctor  Bartholomew's  reply  then 
as  before  was  "One  man  can  do  nothing",  conveying  the  idea  tliat  it  w;is  a  hope- 
less undertaking.  However,  by  persistent  effort  Doctor  Bartholomew  did  become 
interested,  and  thereafter  the  movement  was  n6t  confined  to  "one  man",  there 
were  "two  men". 

Probably  the  move  for  a  State  Board  of  Health  would  have  been  less  vigorous 
had  it  not  been  that  similar  action  had  been  taken  in  Massachusetts.  Tho  first 
report  of  the  Massachusetts  Board  was  made  about  January,  ISTtt.  nnd  s^-nr  to 
Doctor  Baker  at  Wenona  in  a  package  of  Massachusetts  vital  statistics  reports; 
and  immediately  after  the  receipt  of  the  report,  a  bill  was  framed  by  him  providing 
for  a  State  Board  of  Health  in  Michigan. 

In  June,  1870,  the  State  Medical  Society  met  in  Lansing,  and  Doctor  Baker  read 
a  paper,  and  advocated  the  creation  of  a  State  Board.  Doctor  Bartholomew  was 
elected  president  of  the  society,  and  afterwards  appointed  Doctor  Baker  as  chair- 
man of  the  committee  to  assist  the  Secretary  of  State  in  the  compilation  of  vital 
statistics  in  accordance  with  the  State  law.  The  same  law  also  provided  for  a 
similar  committee  to  represent  the  faculty  of  the  Michigan  University.  Prof.  A. 
B.  Palmer  had  been  appointed  that  committee,  but  gave  way  to  Doctor  Baker 
in  order  that  the  effort  for  the  proposed  State  Board  miglit  be  better  sul>served. 
About  October,  1870,  Doctor  Baker  came  to  Lansing  to  superintend  this  coniDiiatioU. 
Soon  after  the  fall  election  he  had  a  conference  with  Senator-elect  I.  M.  Cravath 
of  Lansing,  w^ho  introduced  a  bill  to  create  a  State  Board  of  Health  md  made  it  the 
main  measure  in  which  he  was  interested  duiing  that  session.  By  individual 
effort  with  other  senators  and  by  speeches,  he  wrought  vigorously  for  the  passage 
of  this  proposed  legislation.  The  bill  was  not  favorably  reiiorted  from  the  com- 
mittee to  w^hom  it  was  referred,  possibly  because  one  member  of  that  committee 
was  a  dealer  in  drugs  and  patent  medicines,  and  may  have  thouglit  the  proposi'd 
legislation  might  interfere  with  his  business.  Hon.  Francis  B.  Stockbridge  was 
also  a  member  of  that  committee  and  was  in  sympathy  with  the  movement,  but 
said  the  bill  had  no  chance  wliatever  of  passing  the  house  of  representatives,  th<'i'e- 
fore  it  was  a  waste  of  effort  to  try  to  have  it  pass  th%  senate.  It  failed  to  i)ass 
in  committee  of  the  whole. 

Doctor  Robert  C.  Kedzie,  Homer  O.  Hitchcock,  E.  W.  Jenks,  and  A.  P..  Palmer 
became  interested  in  the  effort;  the  first  bill  was  so  drawn  as  to  legislate  into 
office  the  members  of  the  proposed  Board;  and  the  above-mentioned  j)ersons  Avitli 
Doctor  I.  H.  Bartholomew  and  Doctor  Henry  B.  Baker  were  named  as  its  mem- 
bers. At  the  meeting  of  the  State  ^fedical  Society,  at  Kalamazoo.  Juiw.  1S71. 
as  special  committee  on  vital  statistics.  Doctor  Baker  made  an  extensive  report 
in  w^hich  he  reviewed  the  unsuccessful  effort  for  a  State  Board  of  Healtli. 

During  the  two  years  that  intervened  between  the  sessions  of  1871  and  1873, 
the  persons  mentioned  in  the  original  bill,  and  a  few  other  persons,  wrought 
assiduously  to  create  public  opinion  in  favor  of  a  State  Board  of  Health.     Experi- 

2 


lU  A  Quarter  Century  of  Public-Health 

ence  and  observation  concerning  two  dangers  to  life  and  health— illuminating  oils 
and  poisonous  wall  papers— supplied  evidence  which  was  effectively  used  as 
arguments  for  the  need  of  a  central  board  to  protect  the  health  and  lives  of  the 
citizens  of  Michigan.  Editorials  and  many  short  articles  on  the  need  for  a  State 
Board  of  Health  were  written  and  published.  The  retiring  and  incoming  gover- 
nors were  pursuaded  to  make  favorable  recommendations  in  their  messages  to 
the  legislature.  Having  in  mind  the  proposed  establishment  of  the  Board,  Doctor 
Baitholomew  Avas  elected  to  the  legislature.  He  introduced  a  bill  that  differed 
from  the  preceding  one  in  that  it  did  not  dictate  to  the  governor  who  should  be 
api)ointed  members  of  such  a  Board.  Professor  Kedzie  lectured  before  the  legis- 
lature on  subjects  relating  to  dangers  to  life  and  health  from  poisonous  wall  papers, 
dangerous  illuminating  oils,  and  deaths  from  typhoid  fever  caused  by  using  water 
of  wells  into  which  the  contents  of  privy  vaults  had  leached.  During  some  of 
Doctor  Kedzie's  experiments  showing  the  explosiveness  of  light  oils,  legislators 
retired  from  the  hall  stating  that  they  did  not  care  to  risk  their  lives. 

Besides  those  heretofore  mentioned  as  laboring  for  a  State  Board  of  Health, 
the  following-named  persons  are  entitled  to  recognition:  Senator  H.  H.  Wheeler, 
who  had  charge  of  the  bill  in  the  senate;  Senator  J.  Webster  Childs  of  Ypsilanti; 
Hon.  L.  D.  Watkins  of  Manchester;  Doctor  Manly  Miles,  Stephen  D.  Bingham, 
and  Benjamin  B.  Baker  of  Lansing;  Dr.  A.  ¥.  Wlielan  of  Hillsdale;  Dr.  S.  S.  French 
of  Battle  Creek;  and  Doctor  E.  .J.  Bonine  of  Niles. 

With  some  opposition,  the  bill  passed  both  branches  of  the  legislature,  was 
<igned  by  Governor  Bagiey,  and  took  effect  July  30,  1873. 

Organization  of  a  Public  Health  Service  for  the  State. 

When  the  State  Board  of  Health  undertook  the  general  supervision  of  the  health 
interests  of  the  State,  there  were  already  a  few  laws  upon  the  statute  book;  but,  as 
for  their  value  or  usefulness,  they  were  inoperative.  After  the  establishment  of  the 
State  Board,  one  of  the  first  efforts  was  to  re-organize  or  rather  organize  a  public- 
health  service  for  the  State. 

There  was  a  law  which  provided  for  a  local  board  of  health,  to  consist  of  the 
supervisor  and  the  four  justices  of  the  peace  of  the  township,  but  this  provided  for  a 
board  of  health  that  seldom  if  ever  met.  The  law  was  so  changed  as  to  make  the 
board  of  health  the  township  board;  and  in  this  way  the  board  of  health  could 
meet  Avhenever  the  township  board  was  called  together  without  the  trouble  of 
calling  a  meeting  of  a  special  board  of  health. 

There  was  a  law  on  the  statute  books  which  permitted  the  local  board  of  health 
to  appoint  a  health  officer,  but  this  law  was  amended  to  make  it  mandatory  upon 
the  board  to  appoint  a  health  officer  who  should  be  a  well-educated  physician  in 
cities  and  villages,  and  in  townships  when  practicable;  the  health  oflicer  was 
made  the  sanitary  advisor  and  executive  officer  of  the  local  board;  and  it  was  made 
■obligatory  upon  the  board  to  meet  within  thirty  days  after  the  annual  townshiu 


IRA  HAWLEY  BARTHOLOMEW,  M.  D. 


B 


OCT  OR  BARTHOLOMEW 
was  born  at  Madrid,  St.  Law- 
rence Co.,  N.  Y.,  January  4, 
1828,  and  died  in  Lansing-,  October 
18,  1889.  He  received  his  early 
education  in  the  academies  at  Can- 
ton and  Og-densburg-,  N.  Y.  State, 
and  g"raduated  from  the  Department 
of  Medicine,  Michig-an  Uniyersit}^ 
in  the  spring-  of  1853.  He  com- 
menced the  practice  of  medicine  in 
his  native  town,  but  in  the  fall  of 
1854  removed  to  Michig-an,  where 
he  resided  until  his  death.  In  1863 
Doctor  Bartholomew  was  elected 
mayor  of  Lansing-,  and  was  twice 
re-elected,  a  distinction  which  no 
one  has  ever  shared  wnth  him.  In 
1870-1    he    was    president    of    the 

Michig-an  State  Medical  Society,  and  it  was  at  that  time  that  he 
became  interested  in  the  movement  for  a  State  Board  of  Health,  and  in 
1873-74  represented  Ing-ham  County  in  the  Michig-an  Leg-islature,  his 
aim  being-  to  secure  the  establishment  of  a  State  Board  of  Health.  He 
succeeded,  and  would  undoubtedly  have  been  made  one  of  its  members 
had  it  not  been  for  the  constitutional  provision  which  provided  that  no 
member  of  the  Leg-islature  could  receive  an  appointment  on  a  board 
created  by  the  Leg-islature  of  which  he  was  a  member.  Consequently 
this  publication  would  not  be  complete  without  a  reference  to  Doctor 
Bartholomew. 


10 


HOMER  OWEN  HITCHCOCK,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 


B 


OCTOR  HITCHCOCK  was 
born  in  Westminster,  Ver- 
mont, January  28,  1827,  and 
died  December  7,  1888,  at  Kala- 
mazoo, Michig"an.  He  came  of 
sturdy  New  England  stock,  and 
throug-h  his  early  life  the  district 
school  was  the  extent  of  educa- 
tional advantages.  Largely 
through  his  own  eiforts  he  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  an  education 
and  graduated  from  Dartmouth 
College  in  1851,  and  from  the  Col- 
lege of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of 
New  York  City  in  1855;  and,  after 
serving  as  interne  at  the  Bellevue 
Hospital  for  a  short  time,  moved 
to  Michigan  in  1856,  where  he 
practiced  his  profession  for  32  years.  His  greatest  delight  was  his  life 
work — the  practice  of  medicine,  and  he  was  always  a  leader  in  local  med- 
ical matters;  for  several  years  he  served  as  a  member  of  the  Kalamazoo 
Board  of  Education;  and,  for  23  years  was  a  trustee  of  Olivet  College. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  American  Public  Health  Association,  as  well 
as  a  member  of   local,   state   and  national  medical  societies;    and,   in 

1872,  was  president  of  the  Michigan  State  Medical  Societ}^     April  23, 

1873,  being  appointed  b}'  Governor  Bagle}-,  he  was  the  first-named 
member  of  the  Michigan  State  Board  of  Health,  of  which  organization 
he  was  its  first  president,  and  continued  in  that  office  for  four  years. 
He  served  on  the  Board  until  July  7,  1880,  when,  because  of  a  feeling 
that  he  could  no  longer  spare  adequate  time  from  his  private  practice, 
he  resigned,  the  vacanc}^  being  filled  by  Prof.  Strong  of  Grand  Rapids. 
He  was  an  active  member  of  the  Board,  and  labored  assiduously  for  the 
promotion  of  public  health.  His  chief  work  on  the  Board  was  that  in 
connection  with  the  education  of  the  people  on  the  dangers  from  the 
use  of  alcohol. 


Work  in  Michigan,  1S73-1S0S.  1 1 

meeting  to  appoint  a   liealtli   otticer  and   immediately   report   to  llie   Slate   Board 
the  name  and  postottiee  address  of  tlie  lieaitli  otticer. 

In  clianging  tliese  laws  there  came  a  question  of  just  who  should  appoint  tin? 
health  oflicer;  some  thought  the  central  board  should  appoint  that  olhcial;  Inn. 
partly  through  the  influence  of  Hon.  Witter  J.  Baxter,  the  principh'  of  local  self 
goyernment  was  made  to  prevail,  the  health  officer  to  be  appointed  by  the  local 
board,  and  the  local  board  to  have  absolute  .iurisdiction  over  health  matters  iu 
its  township,  city  or  village.  The  local  board  is  the  medium  of  communication, 
of  the  people  with  the  State  Board,  and  the  State  Board  with  the  people. 

There  was  a  statutory  provision  that  householders  and  physicians  should  report 
small-pox  and  other  "diseases  dangerous  to  the  public  health"  to  the  board  of 
health  or  to  the  health  officer.  The  law  Avas  changed  to  read  that  the  reports 
should  be  made  to  the  president  or  clerk  of  the  board  of  health  or  to  the  health 
officer.  This  still  left  it  quite  indeflnite  and  uncertain  about  the  reception  of  the 
reports;  and,  in  1895,  the  law  was  changed  to  have  such  reports  "made  immediately 
to  the  health  officer",  and  to  the  health  officer  only. 

The  principal  duty  imposed  upon  tlie  local  board  of  health,  at  the  time  the 
State  Board  was  established,  was  in  connection  with  nuisances,  it  being  then 
believed  that  most  of  the  dangerous  diseases  were  'most  frequently  spread  by 
fllth.  With  some  few  exceptions  these  laws  have  remained  the  same;  Imt  the 
duties  of  local  health  officers  have  been  very  greatly  changed. 

By  reason  of  this  organization,  in  place  of  inactive  boards  with  no  health  officer, 
there  are  active  boards  of  health  witli  active  health  officers,  with  certain  specitied 
duties  to  perform,  which  relate  more  directly  to  the  actual  restriction  and  pre- 
vention of  diseases. 

By=Laws  of  the  Michigan  State  Board  of  Health. 

ARTICLE  I.— Meetings  of  the  Board. 

Section  1.  The  regular  meetings  of  the  Board  shall  Ik-  lu-ld  at  Lausiug.  in  ihe 
Capitol,  on  the  second  Fridays  of  January,  April.  .July,  and  OctoI)er  in  earh  year, 
at  10:30  A.  M.;  and  the  meeting  in  April  shall  be  the  annual  meeting.  '  [As 
amended  Oct.  8,  1878,  Oct.  11,  1892,  June  15,   1894.  | 

Sec.  2.  Special  meetings  of  the  Board  may  be  called  at  any  time  and  place 
by  the  President.  The  President  shall  also  call  speeial  meetings  of  the  Itoard  <»ii 
the  MTitten  request  of  a  majority  of  the  members  of  the  Board.  I»y  giving  a  proper 
and  sufficient  notice  of  the  time,  place,  and  object  of  the  meeting  to  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Board. 

« 

ARTICLE  11.— Officers  of. 

Section  1.  The  President  of  the  Board  shall  hold  lils  olliee  for  two  years,  and 
until  a  successor  is  elected.  The  election  shall  take  place  at  the  annual  meeiing 
of  the  Board  in  each  alternate  year.  Ix'ginning  with  1875. 

Sec.  2.  In  the  absence  of  the  President,  a  President  /.ro  /rm.  may  be  chosen  Iiy 
the  members  present  at  any  n)eeting  of  the  Board. 


12  A  Quarter  Century  of  Public-Health 

Sec.  3.  The  duties  of  the  President  and  Secretary  shall  be  those  specified  in  the 
law,  in  these  b.v-hnvs.  and  those  usually  performed  by  such  officers. 

Sec.  4.  At  the  annual  meeting-  of  the  Koard,  in  April  in  each  year,  the  Presi- 
dent, if  he  desires  to  do  so,  shall  present  an  address.     [As  amended  April  13,  18S0.] 

Sec,  5.  At  the  October  meeting-  in  each  year,  the  Secretary  shall  make  to  the 
I'.oard  a  written  report  for  the  fiscal  year.  Avhich  report  shall  include  a  true  account 
of  the  nature  and  amount  of  property  belonging  to  the  Board,  which  has  been 
received,  issued,  expended,  and  destroyed  since  the  last  report,  and  of  the  prop- 
erty remaining  on  hand,  and  also  in  whose  care  each  item  of  property  is  intrusted. 

Sec.  6.  The  Secretary  shall  receive  a  salary  of  three  thousand  dollars  per  annum. 
[As  amended  Feb.  18,  188U,  Dec.  3,  1884,  and  June  16,  1893.] 

ARTICLE  III.— Committees. 

Sectiox  1.  Standing  Committees  shall  be  appointed  on  the  following  subjects. 
[as  amended  July  8,  1879,  July  13,  1880,  and  Sept.  29,  1893]  :— 

1.  Epidemic,  endemic  and  communicable  diseases. 

2.  Sewerage,  and  the  disposal  of  excreta. 

3.  Water  supply,  including  purification  of  sewage— contaminated  water. 

4.  Puildings,  including  house  drainage,  ventilation,  heating,  etc. 
o.  Climate,  geology,  topography,  and  drainage. 

<5.  Foods,  drinks  and  their  adulterations. 

7.  Poisons,  explosives,  etc. 

8.  School  hygiene  and  sanitation. 

9.  Sanitary  inspection  in  cities  and  villages. 

10.  Statistics  of  mortality  and  sickness. 

11.  Public-health   legislation. 

12.  Finances  of  the  Board. 

13.  Animals'  diseases  dangerous  to  man. 

14.  Relations  of  preventable  sickness  to  taxation. 

15.  Quarantine  at  the  Michigan  border  and  within  the  State. 
Sec.  2.     Standing  committees  shall  consist  of  one  member. 

Sec.  3.  At  the  first  meeting  of  the  Board  and  at  the  meeting  in  April  in  each^ 
alternate  year  thereafter,  the  chairman  of  each  standing  committee  shall  be  nomi- 
nated by  the  incoming  President  and  confirmed  by  the  Board,  unless  otherwise  pro- 
vided by  a  majority  vote  of  the  members  present  at  such  annual  meeting. 

Sec.  4.     Special  committees  may  be  appointed  at  any  time  by  the  Board,  or  by  t he- 
President  of  the  Board. 

Sec.  5.  Each  committee  may  employ  assistance,  but  only  with  the  consent  of  the- 
Board  where  the  expenditure  of  money  is  required. 

Sec.  6.     All  papers  for  the  Annual  Report  shall  be  in  the  hands  of  the  Secretary 
on  or  before  the  day  of  the  October  meeting  in  each  year.     (Added  July  10,  1877.)  < 

ARTICLE  IV.— Supplies  and  Expenditures. 

Section  1.     No  unusual  expenditure  shall  be  ordered  except  by  a  majority  of  the- 
members  of  the  Board,  and  then  only  at  the  regular  meeting,  or  at  a  special  meet- 
ing called  to  consider  the  subject  of  the  unusual  expenditure. 

Sec.  2.     Orders  for  stationery,  postage,  and  other  supplies  for  the  use  of  mem- 
b«.rs    and  for  the  office  of  the  Secretary,  shall  be  executed  by  the  Secretary,  who- 
sliall.  at  the  first  subsequent  regular  meeting,  present  to  the  Board  bills  or  ac-- 
counts  tlierefor  to  be  audited. 


Work  in  Michigan,  1873-1898.  13 

ARTICLE  v.— Order  of  Business. 

Sectiox  1.  Tho  order  of  business  at  regular  meetings  shall  be  as  follows  [As 
amended  Jan.  14,  1879,  and  Jnlv  10,  1883.]:— 

1.  Calling  the  roll. 

2.  Reading  of  minutes  of  the  last  meeting. 

3.  Auditing  of  bills  and  accounts. 

4.  Brief  announcements  of  business  to  be  brought  before  the  Board. 

5.  Communications  by  the  President. 

6.  Communications  by  the  members. 

7.  Communications  by  the  Secretarj*. 

8.  Introduction  of  new  business. 

9.  Reports  of  standing  committees. 

10.  Reports  of  special  committees.  i 

11.  Miscellaneous  business. 

At  the  annual  meeting,  the  President's  address  shall  follow  the  reading  of  the 
minutes;  and  at  each  alternate  annual  meeting,  the  election  of  President  shall  fol- 
low the  President's  address. 

Sec.  2.  At  special  meetings  the  same  order  shall  obtain  as  at  regular  meetings, 
except  that  the  consideration  of  the  special  subjects  for  which  the  meeting  is 
called  may  precede  the  usual  order. 

Sec.  3.  When  not  conflicting  with  established  rules  of  the  Board,  the  rules 
of  the  Senate  of  Michigan  shall  apply  to  the  action  of  this  Board,  so  far  as  they 
are  applicable.  Points  of  order  for  the  settlement  of  which  no  other  provision  is 
made  shall  be  decided  hj  the  usual  rules  of  parliamentarj-  practice. 

Sec.  4.  The  order  of  business  may  be  suspended  at  any  meeting  by  a  majority 
vote  of  the  members  present. 

ARTICLE  VI.— Amendments. 

Sectiox  1.  These  by-laws  may  be  amended  or  repealed  at  any  regular  meeting 
of  the  Board  bj'  a  majority  vote  of  the  members  of  the  Board. 

Duties  of  Local  Health  Officials. 

The  duties  of  local  health  officials  are  many  and  varied;  and,  the  extent  of  the 
authority  vested  in  them  for  the  protection  of  the  people,  is  practically  unlimited. 

In  order  to  point  out  and  define  the  most  material  duties  of  the  local  health 
officials,  the  Board  has  issued  a  small  pamphlet  [120];  and,  until  recently  it  has 
had  for  distribution,  a  larger  pamphlet  compilation  of  the  laws  in  force  relative 
to  public  health. 

The  health  officer  is  executive  officer  of  the  board,  and  unless  instructed  other- 
wise, he  is  obliged  to:  (1)  Immediately  investigate  if  he  has  good  reason  to  believe 
that  there  exists  a  disease  dangerous  to  the  public  health;  (2)  order  the  prompt 
and  .thorough  isolation  of  those  sick  or  infected  with  such  disease,  so  long  as  there 
is  danger  of  communicating  the  disease  to  others;  (3)  to  order  the  prompt  vaccina- 
tion or  isolation  of  persons  who  have  been  exposed  to  small-pox;  (4)  to  see  that  no 
person  suffers  for  lack  of  nurses  or  other  necessaries;  (5)  to  give  public  notice 
of  infected  premises  by  placard  or  otherwise;  (6)  to  notify  teachers  and  superin- 
tendents of  schools  concerning  families  in  which   there  are  contagious   diseases; 


14  A  Quarter  Century  of  Public-Health 

(7)  to  supervise  funerals  of  i)ersons  dead  from  dangerous  diseases;  (8)  to  dis- 
infect rooms,  clothing  and  articles  likely  to  be  infected;  and  (9)  to  keep  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  State  Board  of  Health  constantly  informed  concerning  outbreaks,  their 
origin,  progress,  termination  and  means  used  for  their  restriction,  and  make  annual 
reports  on  blanks  supplied  by  the  Board. 

The  principal  duties  of  local  health  officials  are  those  connected  with  the  restric- 
tion and  prevention  of  the  dangerous  diseases,  but  there  are  other  duties  such  as 
the  investigation  of  and  the  abatement  of  nuisances,  sources  of  sickness,  etc., 
management  and  control  of  cemeteries,  tranportation  of  corpses,  quarantine,  regis- 
tration of  medical  practitioners,  enforcement  of  all  public  health  laws;  and  other 
duties  prescribed  bj^  law. 

The  powers  of  the  local  board  of  health  are  practically  unlimited.  It  is  required 
by  law  to  frame  and  publish  rules  and  regulations  respecting  nuisances,  sources 
of  filth,  removal  and  disposition  of  garbage,  sewage  and  other  causes  of  sick- 
ness,  articles  which  are  liable  to  convey  infection,  intemient  of  the  dead,  move- 
ment of  infected  persons  and  animals,  sl.aughter-houses  and  offensive  trades.  When 
published,  such  rules  have  the  force  of  law.  Specimen  rules  and  regulations  recom- 
mended to  local  boards  for  adoption  are  printed  in  the  annual  report  of  tlie  Board 
for  1875. 

Compensation  for  Local  Health  Work. 

In  another  portion  of  this  publication  Avill  be  found  a  statement  relative  to  the 
lives  saved  by  public-health  work.  That  lives  are  saved  by  public-health  work,, 
there  can  be  no  question;  and  to  local  health  officers  is  largely  due  the  credit 
for  such  saving.  While  Sec.  3  of  Act  137,  laws  of  1883,  has  provided  compensation, 
for  fulfilling  the  requirements  of  that  Act,  at  the  rate  of  not  less  than  two  dollars 
per  day  when  other  provisions  have  not  been  made,  and  while  in  many  instances 
the  local  board  of  health  has  fixed  an  annual  salary  for  the  health  officer,  local 
health  officers  have  been,  as  a  rule,  shabbily  paid.  Except  in  a  very  few  of  the 
larger  cities,  it  has  been  unusual  for  the  health  officer  to  receive  more  than  one 
hundred  dollars  for  his  j-ear's  work;  and,  in  many  instances,  the  amount  is  much 
less.  This  is  not  just,  and  some  change  should  be  inaugurated  which  will  secure, 
to  efficient  Avork,  a  fair  compensation.  It  is  believed  that  the  health  officer  could, 
in  any  jurisdiction  in  Michigan,  save  at  least  one  life;  and  one  life  saved  is  a  small 
estimate.  The  saving  of  that  one  life  ought  to  justify  the  payment  of  an  annual 
salary  of  at  least  $oOO.  "The  State  Board  of  Health  has  labored  during  many, 
years  to  educate  the  local  boards  of  health  in  the  value  of  public-health  work. 
Secretary  Baker  has  written  numerous  papers,  in  which  he  has  accurately  shown 
how  much  certain  localities  could  well  afford  to  pay  their  health  officer.  Reprints 
Nos.  321  and  362  are  such  papers,  and  the  facts  contained  therein  are  generally 
applicable  to  localities  other  than  those  mentioned. 


ROBERT  CLARK  KEDZIE,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Sc.  I). 


W 


1^  W^ 


kROFESSOR    KEDZIE   was 

born   January  28,    1823,    at 

Delhi,  N.  Y.,  and  has  been 

a   resident   of    Michigan    for   72 

years,  except  the  time  he  spent  at 

Oberlin  College.     He  received  A. 

B.  degree  at  Oberlin   College   in 

1847,  his  A.  M.  degree  from  the 
same  College  in  1864,  graduated 

from  the  Medical  Department  of 
the  Michigan  University  in  1850, 
and  has  been  professor  of  Chem- 
istr}'  at  the  Michigan  Agricultural 
College  for  the  past  35  years.  In 
recognition  of  his  eminent  serv- 
ices in  scientific  investigations 
along  agricultural  lines,  and  of 
the  high  position  he  has  attained 

among  the  scientists  of  this  country,  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Science  was  conferred  on  him  in  1898  by  the  Michigan  State  Board  of 
Agriculture.  In  1867  he  represented  Ingham  County  in  the  Michigan 
Legislature.  He  has  been  president  of  the  Michigan  State  Medical 
Societv,  of  the  Michigan  State  Board  of  Health,  of  the  American  l*ub- 
lic  Health  Association,  and  of  the  Sanitary  Council  of  the  Mississippi 
Vallev,  and  vice-president  of  the  American  Medical  Association  and  ot 
the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science  and  is  Follow 
of  the  American  Academy  of  Medicine.  April  25,  1873,  (;overnor  Bag- 
ley  appointed  him  member  of  the  original  Michigan  State  Board  of 
Health  for  the  term  of  two  vears;  in  April,  1875,  (kjvernor  Bagley 
reappointed  him;  and  March  22,  1881,  Governor  Jerome  again 
appointed  him,  for  a  third  term,  as  member  of  the  Board;  but, 
because  of  his  duties  at  the  College,  he  declined  the  appointment. 
In  this  capacitv  Doctor  Kedzie  served  the  State  for  eight  years, 
during  four  years  of  which  he  was  President  of  the  Board.  Res- 
olutions of  regret  at  his  retirement  and  expressions  of  appreciation 
and  thanks  for  his  valuable  services,  were  adopted  by  the  Board  April 
12,  1881,  and  are  printed  on  page  xl  of  the  Report  for  that  year.  One 
of  the  first  papers  published  by  the  Board,  in  the  annual  report  for 
1873  was  the  paper  by  Doctor  Kedzie  on  "  School  Buildings;  in  relation 
to  their  construction,  warming,  and  ventilation,  as  inHuencing  the 
health  of  teachers  and  scholars." 


14 


ZENAS  EMORY  BLISS,  M.  D. 


E) 


OCTOR  BLISS  was  born 
in  Poolville,  Madison 
county,  New  York,  July  4, 
1832,  and  died  at  Grand  Rapids, 
Michig-an,  April  21,  1877.  He 
was  a  phA'sician  and  surgeon  b}^ 
profession, having  graduated  from 
the  Medical  Department  of  the 
Michigan  Universit}'  in  1855. 
He  was  a  resident  of  Michigan 
for  about  a  quarter  of  a  centur}^ 
and  durinof  that  time  held  many 
offices  of  public  trust.  In  1861 
he  volunteered  as  assistant  sur- 
geon of  the  third  Michigan  in- 
fantry, later  promoted  to  surgeon, 
Jan.  26,  1866,  promoted  to  Brevet 
Lieut.  Col.  U.  S.  Volunteers  for 
faithful  and  meritorious  service  during  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  after 
which  he  was  honorabh'  discharged  from  the  service.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Michigan  State  Medical  Societ3\  American  Medical  Associa- 
tion, and  Grand  Rapids  Medical  and  Surgical  Societ3\  April  25,  1873, 
Doctor  Bliss  was  appointed  by  Governor  Bagley  as  one  of  the  original 
members  of  the  Michigan  State  Board  of  Health;  but,  because  of 
seriously  impaired  health,  he  resigned  the  office  Sept.  12,  1874,  having 
served  on  the  Board  for  a  little  more  than  a  year.  During  the  time  he 
was  member  of  the  Board  he  collected  the  histories  of  numerous  cases 
of  trichiniasis  that  had  occurred  in  Michigan,  and  the  stud}'  was 
continued  by  his  successor  Dr.  Hazlewood,  and  is  printed  in  the 
annual  report  for  1875.  Upon  the  retirement  of  Doctor  Bliss  from 
active  public-health  work,  resolutions  of  regret  and  sympath}-  were 
unanimously  adopted  by  the  Board  and  are  printed  on  page  IX  of  the 
report  for  1875;  and  resolutions  relative  to  the  death  of  Doctor  Bliss  are 
printed  on  page  Ixiii  of  the  report  for  1877. 


Work  in  Michigan,  1873-1S!>s.  1.% 

Co=operation  of  the  People  With   Health  Officials. 

Experience  in  Michigan  has  indicated  that  it  is  necessary  to  have  the  coopera- 
tion of  the  people,  if  the  dangerous  connnnnicable  diseases  are  to  be  restricted  and 
prevented.  In  order  to  accomplisli  this  result,  the  State  Board  of  ll»'alili  lias 
published  leaflets  relating  to  the  modes  of  spreading  and  the  liest  methods  for  tlie 
restriction  and  prevention  of  such  diseases.  These  leaflets  have  bern  printed  by 
tens  of  thousands;  and,  whenever  a  dangerous  disease  is  reported  to  the  central 
office,  the  Secretary  has  usually  sent  to  the  health  officer  several  copies  of  tlie 
special  leaflet  relating  to  the  disease  in  question.  The  healtli  officer  is  requested 
to  place  one  of  these  instructive  publications  wiili  tlie  family  where  the  disea>e 
exists,  and  a  copy  with  each  neighbor  of  the  infected  premises.  The  instruction 
comes  at  a  time  when  it  is  desirable  to  know  about  the  dangerous  disease  in 
question;  and.  in  this  way  a  general  cooperation  of  the  people  is  sought  to  V)e 
secured.  The  people  are  thus  educated  and  become  familiar  with  their  duties 
in  the  premises,  they  are  taught  wherein  the  dangers  lie.  and  the  manner  in  which 
the  life  and  health  of  their  dear  ones  can  be  protected;  diseases  are  then  promi»tIy 
reported  to  the  local  health  officials;  and  active  efforts  are  employed  for  the 
eradication  of  the  disease. 

Injuries  and  Loss  of  Life  and  Property  Consequent  on   the  Use  of   Kerosene,  Gaso- 
line, etc.,  and  the  Establishment  of  State  Inspection  of  Illuminating  Oils. 

One  of  the  first  subjects  that  occupied  the  attention  of  the  Board  was  the  dan- 
gerous illuminating"  oils  being  brought  into  Michigan  from  Ohio.  There  was 
practically  no  test  in  Michigan,  the  only  test  being  that  by  the  manufacturer  by 
means  of  the  Tagliabue  open  cup.  Dangerous  oils  were  branded  'Warranted  to 
stand  17.j°  Fire  Test",  etc.,  and  other  such  deceptions  were  common.  It  being 
apparent  that  propert3',  life  and  health  were  being  jeopardized  in  Michigan  by 
reason  of  these  light  and  inflammable  oils.  Prof.  Kedzie  undertook  the  examination 
of  samples  from  various  parts  of  the  State,  and  nearly  uniformly  it  was  found 
that  the  sample  fell  far  below  what  it  was  branded,  although  I'rof.  Ke<lzie  us»m1 
nearly  the  same  form  of  tester.  The  results  of  these  researches  wer<'  exhibited 
in  an  article  by  him  published  in  the  annual  report  of  the  Board  for  1S~,\.  and 
had  an  important  bearing  upon  the  future  action  of  the  Board  and  the  legi>>latm-e 
in  this  connection. 

In  order  to  place  the  testing  of  oils  on  a  more  accurate  foundation,  the  Stat«' 
Board  of  Health  recommended  that  the  legal  test  be  l>y  the  •'.Michigan  State  lioard 
of  Health  oil  tester",  a  cup  devised  by  Pi-of.  Kedzie  and  believed  to  give  mnrc 
accurately  the  actual  condition  of  the  oil  when  bm-ning  in  an  ordinary  lamp. 
Through  the  efforts  of  the  Board,  in  1875  that  cup  was  made  the  Icg.il  cup.  and  no 
oil  cotdd  be  sold  in  Michigan  that  did  not  stand  a  flash  test  of  ].'»«)"  F.  or  a  l)urning 
test  of  140°  F. 

Although  efforts  Avere  repeatedly   made  to  reduce  the  legal    te^t.    tlie    .Mi<liigan 


16  A  Quarter  Century  of  Public-Health 

Board  was  able  to  counteract  such  efforts,  and  Michigan  had  for  a  number  of  years 
been  blessed  with  a  comparatively  safe  oil;  but  in  1879  the  test  was  made  120° 
F.  by  the  State  Board  of  Health  tester.  In  1891,  the  opposition  in  favor  of  a  lower 
grade  oil  was  able  to  inlluence  the  legislature  to  make  the  test  120°  F.  burning  test, 
hi  The  Tagliabue  cup  and  the  casualties  were  immediately  noticeably  increased; 
and.  in  18i)3.  the  test  was  made  slightly  more  exacting  when  it  was  made  120° 
F.  flash  test  in  the  Foster  cup.  The  efforts  of  the  Board  to  uphold  the  test  were 
vigorous,  but  they  were  not  completely  successful,  the  advocates  of  low-grade  oil 
were,  in  a  measure,  victorious.    However,  the  law  in  Michigan  is  still  better  than  in 

some  States. 

The  State  Board  then  thinking  that  other  work  it  had  undertaken  vras  of  more 
consequence  to  the  citizens  of  Michigan,  it  relinquished  its  active  efforts  in  this  line, 
but  a  close  watch  is  kept  up  of  all  casualties  from  this  cause.  This  whole  system 
of  State  inspection  and  testing  was  built  up  under  the  direction  of  the  State  Board; 
and.  while  the  Board's  advice  was  taken  there  was  very  little  loss  of  property 
and  life  in  Michigan  by  inflammable  or  explosive  kerosene,  and  even  now  there  is 
not  jSiuch  danger  as  there  was  before  this  system  was  established  by  the  State 
Board. 

The  credit  for  the  movement  for  better  and  safer  kerosene  oil  is  largely  due 
to  Dr.  Ira  H.  Bartholomew  who,  while  in  the  legislature,  labored  assiduously  for  the 
legal  control  of  that  subject,  at  the  same  time  that  he  was  laboring  for  the 
establishment  of  the  State  Board  of  Health. 

Poisonous  Wall  Papers,  Etc. 

One  of  the  first  reports  made  to  the  State  Board  of  Health  was  that  by  Prof. 
Kedzie,  chairman  of  Committee  on  Poisons,  etc.,  relative  to  ''Poisonous  Paper." 
It  seems  that  at  that  time  it  was  apparently  a  "fad",  "habit"  or  "economy'"  on 
the  part  of  manufacturers  of  papers  to  use  arsenic  in  the  coloring;  the  pretty 
bright  green  predominating;  but  other  colors  also  contained  this  deadly  poison. 
Not  only  was  arsenic  used  in  the  manufacture  of  papers  but  in  coloring  paints, 
the  green  fan,  the  green  blinds,  the  green  pump,  the  green  cup,  etc.,  all  contained 
the  poison.  Apparently  vigorous  persons,  especially  children,  would  go  into  a 
decline  and  die;  the  trouble  being  attributed  to  a  convenient  pretense— consumption. 
Pencils,  toys,  and  other  baby  articles  were  decorated  with  coloring  material  loaded 
with  arsenic,  and  the  child  was  slowly  poisoned  to  death.  But  Doctor  Kedzie, 
benevolent  and  always  alert  and  anxious  to  render  aid  to  some  suffering  individual, 
was  not  long  in  determining  the  cause.  He  found  that  many  cases  of  such  mys- 
terious illness  could  be  traced  to  the  poison  in  the  wall  paper,  the  granules  of 
poison  becoming  dust,  floated  in  the  air.  Avere  taken  into  the  lungs  and  subse- 
quently into  the  whole  system  and  caused  the  "general  decline"  spoken  of. 

In  the  report  of  the  Board  for  1874,  Prof.  Kedzie  made  a  further  report  on  this 
subject.  This  report  was  published  by  the  Board  in  a  separate  volume  together 
with  samples  of  the   poisonous   wall   papers   and   distributed  in   November,   1874. 


Work  in  Michigan,  1873-1898.  17 

The  title  of  the  book  Was  "Shadows  from  the  Walls  of  Death".  It  contained  a 
hundred  or  more  actual  samples  of  wall  paper  which  had  been  tested  and  proved  to 
contain  arsenic.  A  copy  was  sent  to  each  library  in  Michigan,  especially  to  the 
numerous  ladies'  libraries,  as  an  "liorrible  example",  and  to  inform  the  ladies 
throughout  the  State  of  the  danger  and  of  the  exact  kinds  of  wall  paper  whicli 
were  dangerous.  The  book  was  distributed  elsewhere  where  it  was  thought  it 
would  do  good.  Notwithstanding  the  opposition  against  the  Board  because  of  its 
stand  on  this  subject,  the  work  was  continued.  The  results  were  undoubtedly  very 
valuable.  It  educated  the  people  to  protect  themselves  by  a  judicious  choice  of 
paper,  and  undoubtedly  helped  to  revolutionize  the  manufacture  of  wall  i>aper 
and  other  articles  containing  arsenical  coloring  matter. 

Resuscitation  of  the  Drowned  and  Electrically  Shocked. 

Secretary  Baker  first  called  the  Board's  attention  to  rules  for  the  resuscitation 
of  the  drowned.  The  subject  was  referred  to  a  committee  consisting  of  Professor 
Kedzie  and  Secretary  Baker,  and  after  nearly  a  year's  effort  to  perfect  rules  for 
the  treatment  of  the  drowned,  the  committee  reported  in  1874.  The  committee  was 
aided  by  Doctor  J.  H.  Beech  of  Coldwater.  The  rules  recommended  by  the  com- 
mittee were  modeled  after  those  prepared  by  Doctor  Benjamin  Ilowaixl,  and  pub- 
lished by  the  Life-Saving  Society  of  New  York;  but  in  some  important  particulars 
were  new.  The  Michigan  iiiles  were  published  as  Avail  posters  and  in  leatlet  foi-m, 
with  illustrations,  and  the  original  draft  can  be  found  in  the  annual  report  of  the 
Board  for  1874; 

Because  of  the  numerous  inland  lakes  and  streams  and  the  Great  Lakes  in  and 
around  Michigan,  the  chances  for  loss  of  life  by  drowning  has  been  very  great. 
Thousands  of  lives  have  been  thus  sacrificed,  but  just  how  many  have  been  saved 
through  compliance  with  the  recommendations  of  the  State  Board  it  is  impossible 
to  estimate,  but  the  number  is  large.  Many  instances  of  enforcement  of  the  rules, 
resulting  in  the  saving  of  life,  have  reached  the  office  of  the  Board,  and  this  por- 
tion of  the  Board's  work  has  been  highly  commended. 

Thousands  of  the  leaflets  have  been  issued  and  distributed  over  Michigan.  Tlie 
leaflet  has  several  times  been  revised,  and  the  latest  edition  will  be  found  printed  in 
the  annual  report  for  1897,  and  deals  with  the  treatment  of  the  electrically  shocked 
as  well  as  the  drowned. 

Ventilation. 

Whether  a  room  receives  a  sufficient  amount  of  fresh  and  germ-free  air.  whether 
a  room  is  free  from  drafts,  whether  the  system  of  ventilation  is  comparatively  inex- 
pensive, are  questions  of  importance;  and  when  that  room  typifies  the  rooms  in 
which  the  people  of  the  State  live,  these  questions  have  a  direct  bearing  upon  the 
healthy  condition  of  our  people.  In  order  to  have  healthy  men  and  v/omen,  care 
must  be  taken  that  the  children  are  supplied  with  plenty  of  good  wliolesomo  air. 
3 


18  A  Quarter  Century  op  Public-Health 

The  importance  which  the  State  Board  has  attached  to  this  subject  has  been  emi- 
nent, and  many  addresses  and  papers  have  been  published  and  distributed  by  the 
Board.  One  which  went  minutely  into  the  principles  of  ventilation,  and  is  appli- 
cable to  the  present  time,  is  the  one  published  by  the  Board  in  its  first  (1873) 
annual  report.  The  paper  was  by  Prof.  R.  C.  Kedzie,  and  was  entitled  "School 
Buildings:  in  relation  to  their  construction,  warming,  and  ventilation,  as  influenc- 
ing the  health  of  teachers  and  scholars".  The  report  of  1873  is  yet  in  very  frequent 
demand  because  of  that  article. 

One  valuable  paper  "On  suggestions  respecting  the  Ventilation  of  Buildings",  by 
Dr.  John  H.  Kellogg,  was  printed  in  the  annual  report  of  the  Board  for  1891,  and 
another  recent  paper  was  by  Doctor  Henry  B.  Baker  and  is  printed  in  the  annual 
report  for  1894. 

By  reference  to  the  alphabetical  index  (Reprint  No.  522)  printed  by  the  office,  it 
will  be  seen  that  during  the  existence  of  the  Board  many  papers  on  this  subject 
have  been  written. 

Examinations  in  Sanitary  Science. 

Upon  suggestion  of  Doctor  Lyster,  Oct.  8,  1878,  the  Board  appointed  a  committee 
consisting  of  Doctor  Henry  F.  Lyster  and  Hon.  LeRoy  Parker  to  report  upon  a  plan 
for  the  examination  of  candidates  in  subjects  relating  to  the  public  health.  The 
report  of  the  committee  is  printed  in  the  annual  report  for  1879.  The  Board  had 
in  mind  the  improvement  of  the  health  service  of  the  State,  thinking  that  calling 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  Board  would  examine  candidates  would  tend  to 
have  local  boards  of  health  appoint  health  officers  who  had  been  thus  examined. 
It  was  also  believed  that  health  officers  would  be  stimulated  to  increase  their 
knowledge  upon  health  subjects  and-  thus  better  qualify  themselves  to  perform 
the  duties  required  of  them  by  law.  The  Board  also  had  in  mind  that  after  the 
movement  had  been  established  an  amendment  to  the  law  might  require  that  only 
such  persons  as  had  passed  the  examination  would  be  eligible  to  the  office  of  health 
officer.  The  first  examination  was  conducted  by  the  Board  July  14,  1880,  and  there 
were  two  successful  candidates.  The  questions  asked  are  printed  in  the  annual 
report  for  1880,  and  a  list  of  books  that  were  recommended  by  the  Board  as  valu- 
able to  candidates  for  examination  is  printed  in  the  same  report.  An  amended  list 
of  questions  is  printed  in  the  report  for  1881. 

The  reason  that  the  proffer  for  examination  was  short  lived,  was  because  of  the 
lack  of  applicants,  and  undoubtedly  the  reason  why  there  were  not  more  ap- 
plicants was  because  it  was  not  required  by  law  in  order  to  fill  the  office  of  guardian 
of  the  public  health.  But  some  day  this  plan  should  be  resumed  and  a  law  enacted 
which  will  require  that  health  officers  shall  be  fully  qualified  to  perform  the  duties 
required  by  law. 


CHARLES  HENRY  BRIGHAM,  A.  B. 


T^EV.   MR.    BRIGHAM   was 

1^    born  July  27,  1820,  in  Bos- 

J-  ^  ton,  Mass.,  and  died  Feb. 
19,  1879,  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y., 
having-  been  a  resident  of  Michi- 
g-an  for  thirteen  years.  He  o-rad- 
uated  from  Harvard  University- 
in  1839,  and  was  an  active  minis- 
ter for  many  years.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  American  Oriental 
Society,  the  German  Oriental  So- 
ciety, the  American  Philolog-ical 
Society,  the  American  Social 
Science  Association,  etc.;  and 
during-  the  years  1872-8  served  as 
a  member  of  the  Ann  Arbor 
School  Board.  For  12  years  dur- 
ing- his  life  he  was  a  Lecturer  in 

the  Theolog-ical  School  at  Meadville,  Penn.  April  25,  1S73,  he  was  by 
Governor  Bag-ley  appointed  member  of  the  Michigan  State  Board  (»f 
Health  for  a  term  of  two  years;  and  April  2h,  1S75,  Governor  Bag-ley 
ag-ain  appointed  him,  for  a  term  of  six  years.  At  the  end  of  an  cig-ht 
3-ear  service,  because  of  ill  health,  he  retired  from  public-health  work; 
resolutions  of  reg-ret  and  sympathy  were  adopted  b}'  the  Board  July  lo, 
1877,  and  are  printed  on  page  Ixiii  of  the  annual  report  of  the  Board  for 
that  3'ear.  He  was  a  prolific  contributor  upon  theolog-ical  subjects.  As 
committee  of  the  Board  on  "Occupations  and  Health"  he  prepared  a 
report  on  "The  Influence  of  Occupations  upon  Health"  that  is  printed 
in  the  report  of  the  Board  for  1875,  and  wrote  a  paper  on  "  Recreations 
considered  with  reference  to  their  Influence  on  Health"  which  was 
printed  in  the  annual  report  for  1877. 

18 


HENRY  FRANCIS  LYSTER,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 


B 


*  ^ 


OCTOR  IvYSTER  was  born  at 
Sanderscourt,  Ireland,  Nov.  9, 
1837,  and  died  Oct.  3,  1894,  while 
enroute  for  California.  Both  his  de- 
g-rees  were  received  from  the  Michi- 
g-an  University,  in  1857  and  1859 
respectively.  He  served  in  the  Medi- 
cal Department  of  the  U.  S.  Army  for 
the  years  1861-5,  was  a  member  of  the 
Loyal  Leg-ion,  and  was  a  member  of 
the  Detroit  School  Board.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Detroit  Medical  and 
Library  Association,  Wayne  Count}' 
Medical  Society,  Michig-an  State  Med- 
ical Society,  National  Association  of 
Railway  Surg-eons,  and  the  National 
Association  of  Medical  Directors  of 
Life  Insurance  Companies.  Doctor  Lyster  was  professor  in  the  Michi- 
g-an Medical  Colleg-e  from  its  org-anization  until  its  amalg-amation  with 
the  Detroit  CoUeg-e  of  Medicine;  and,  for  four  years,  he  served  in  the 
capacity  of  non-resident  professor  in  the  State  University.  His  educa- 
tional work  especially  related  to  Surg-ery,  Theory  and  Practice  and  Clin- 
ical Medicine.  Having-  been  appointed  April  25,  1873,  by  Governor 
Bag-ley  as  member  of  the  orig-inal  State  Board  of  Health,  he  served 
as  member  of  the  Board  continuously  for  eig-hteen  years,  having-  been 
twice  reappointed.  During^  this  period  he  was  an  active  and  energ-etic 
member,  especially  along-  the  lines  in  which  he  was  most  interested, 
and  his  name  will  be  frequently  found  mentioned  in  this  souvenir  pub- 
lication, in  connection  with  draining-  for  health  and  for  profit,  the  evil 
effects  of  alcohol,  the  prevention  of  consumption,  and  various  other 
subjects  on  which  he   wrote  extensively. 


Work  in  Michigan,  1873-1898.  '  19 

Meteorological  Statistics. 

Michigan  is  not  only  remarkable  for  its  extraordinary  typograidiical  characteris- 
tics but  it  has  peculiar  meteorological  conditions.  The  mean  temperature  varies  but 
slightly  from  the  mean  temperature  of  localities  farther  east  or  west  in  the  same 
latitude,  but  the  changes  are  widely  different  and  present  peculiar  phenomena. 
That  the  meteorological  conditions  have  a  direct  influence  on  the  condition  of 
health,  there  is  no  doubt.  Although  meteorological  observations  have  been  taken 
since  1S.34  in  places  in  Michigan,  one  of  the  first  to  take  regular  and  systematic 
and  complete  observations  was  Prof.  R.  C.  Kedzie,  of  the  Agricultural  College,  who 
begini  the  M'ork  about  1864.  But  there  was  no  systematic  effort  to  collect  such 
statistics  throughout  Michigan  until  the  movement  was  started  by  Doctor  IBaker 
in  1870,  when  he  was  supei-vising  the  compilation  of  vital  statistics  in  the  State 
Department,  at  Lansing,  under  the  direction  of  which  he  was  working,  to  collect 
meteorological  statistics  for  the  purpose  of  study  in  connection  with  mortality  sta- 
tistics. The  study  was  commenced  even  before  the  State  Board  of  Health  was 
established,  and  was  probably  the  first  effort  ever  made  to  show  a  casual  relation 
between  the  atmospheric  conditions  and  mortality  from  such  diseases  as  pneumonia 
and  croup.  The  beginning  of  the  study  will  be  found  in  the  Registration  Report  for 
1870. 

However,  the  work  did  not  cease  when  Doctor  Baker  became  Secretary  of  the 
State  Board  of  Health,  and  it  has  been  in  operation  during  the  many  years'  exist- 
ence of  the  Board.  In  each  annual  report  of  the  State  Board  since  1S7G  will  be 
found  a  study  of  the  meteorological  conditions  in  Michigan.  Not  only  have  the 
mortality  statistics  but  the  morbidity  statistics  been  studied  in  connection  with  the 
meteorological  statistics,  and  the  work  is  a  part  of  one  of  the  most  interesting 
and  scientific  studies  the  Board  has  carried  along.  In  recent  years  this  portion 
of  the  annual  report  of  the  Board  has  been  reprinted  in  pamplilet  form,  for  con- 
venient study  by  meteorologists  and  others  studying  the  causation  of  diseases. 

Sickness  Statistics. 

Mortality  statistics  are  valuable  and  have  supplied  important  information  that 
has  plajod  a  significant  role  in  medical  and  sanitary  progress;  but  these  statistics 
are  collected  only  after  death  has  occurred.  Morbidity  or  sickness  statistics  deal 
with  the  condition  of  the  living.  For  importance  and  usefulness  the  Michigan 
Sickness  Statistics  are  second  to  none  in  tlie  World.  The  system  was  modelled 
after  that  devised  in  England  by  Benjamin  Ward  Richardson,  M.  1>..  LL.  D.,  and 
copied  by  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Health;  in  each  of  which  instances 
the  attempt  was  short  lived.  While  the  Michigan  plan  was  not  the  first,  it  has 
been  successfully  maintained  through  a  long  series  of  years;  and  its  value  is 
enhanced  by  its  long  extent.  The  expense  coHuected  with  the  collection  of  the 
facts  concerning  every  case  of  sickness,  would  be  enormous  and  of  no  gl-eater 
value  than  a  careful  collection  of  the  facts  concerning  the  sickness  that  Mould  come 


20  A  Quarter  Century  of  Public-Health 

under  the  observation  of  representative  medical  practitioners  in  active  general 
practice  in  various  parts  of  the  State.  This  was  the  plan  that  Secretary  Baker  pre- 
sented to  the  Board  at  its  meeting  in  July,  1876,  when  the  worli  w^as  authorized 
and  commenced.  At  first  the  Board  collected  the  facts  concerning  twenty-two 
of  the  most  important  causes  of  sickness.  It  was  then  the  practice  that  the 
weekly  card  reports  by  a  physician  should  include  not  only  the  cases  seen  by 
him  but  by  the  other  physicians  in  that  vicinity.  In  Ma;J^  1885,  the  practice  was 
changed  and  the  card-reporter  was  requested  to  include  in  the  report  only  the 
cases  of  sickness  under  his  own  observation,  without  regard  to  area.  The  sta- 
tistics rest  upon  the  law  of  averages,  a  sample  of  the  sickness  in  the  State  is  taken 
as  the  condition  of  all  sickness;  and,  the  system  has  been  proved  to  be  useful.  The 
average  number  of  cards  received  each  week  for  a  series  of  years  was  about  60. 
Twenty-eight  important  diseases  are  now  reported  upon. 

In  each  of  the  annual  reports  since  1876  will  be  found  a  compilation  of  these 
statistics,  and  a  study  of  the  relation  between  the  atmospheric  conditions  and 
conditions  of  sickness.  Doctor  Baker,  by  his  unique  systems  of  curves,  has  been 
able  to  show  verj-  graphically  that  the  sickness  from  pneumonia  is  quantitatively 
related  to  the  atmospheric  temperature  and  atmospheric  ozone,  the  colder  the 
atmosphere  and  the  more  ozone  the  more  sickness  from  pneumonia;  that  the 
curve  representing  the  sickness  from  influenza  quite  nearly  coincides  with  the 
curve  representing  atmospheric  ozone;  and  many  other  such  interesting  relations 
between  sickness  and  atmospheric  conditions. 

One  wishing  to  study  this  important  work  in  detail,  can  do  so  by  referring  to 
the  annual  reports  of  the  Board  since  1876,  and  by  reading  an  article  on  "Sickness 
Statistics"  in  the  annual  report  for  1892. 

Bulletins  of  "Health  in  Michigan." 

In  connection  with  the  sickness  statistics  and  from  the  data  received  upon  the 
weekly  card-reports  of  sickness,  the  Board  has  since  1882  issued  a  weekly  bulletin 
of  "Health  in  Michigan".  The  data  are  compiled  from  physicians'  reports  from 
various  parts  of  the  State.-  The  bulletin  publishes  the  condition  of  sickness  in 
Michigan  during  each  week,  and  compares  the  sickness  of  that  week  with  that  of 
the  preceding  week.  The  places  where  each  dangerous  communicable  disease  is 
present  are  mentioned.  Monthly  and  quarterly  bulletins  similar  to  the  weekly  have 
been  published.  These  bulletins  are  distributed  where  it  is  thought  they  will  be 
likely  to  be  appreciated,  and  a  statement  of  what  they  include  can  be  found  in  each 
annual  report  of  the  Board  since  1883. 

What  are  the  Dangerous  Communicable  Diseases? 

The  Michigan  legislature  wisely  left  the  question  of  "what  are  the  dangerous 
communicable  diseases"  to  the  highest  authority  on  that  subject  in  the  State— the 
State  Board  of  Health;    that  Board  not  only  studies  the  vital   statistics  of  the 


Work  in  Michigan,  1S73-1898.  iM 

State,  but  keeps  up  Avitli  the  most  recout  advances  in  publie-lieallh  work.  The 
Board  has  determined  which  are  tlie  most  dangerous  diseases,  and  the  order  of 
their  importance.  When  the  State  Board  of  Ilealtli  has,  after  deliberate  consid- 
eration, decided  that  a  certain  disease  is  dangerous  to  the  public  health,  it  has 
so  declared  it,  and  placed  it  on  the  "list"  of  '"diseases  dangerous  to  the  public 
health"  in  accordance  with  the  State  laws. 

Diseases  which  have  been  placed  on  the  'lisi"  are:  Measles,  whooping-cough, 
scarlet  fever,  typhoid  fever,  small-pox  and  cholera,  placed  on  the  list  in  IST^i; 
diphtheria,  in  1875;  puerperal  fever  and  erysipelas,  in  1S7."S;  typhus  fever,  in  bSTK; 
rotheln  (mainly  because  scarlet  fever  is  so  liable  to  be  mistaken  for  rotheln),  in 
1886;  membraneous  or  inflammatory  croup  and  typho-malarial  fever  (because  for 
practical  purposes  it  must  be  considered  as  typhoid  fever),  in  1889;  consumption, 
in  1893;  yellow  fever,  glanders,  rabies,  tetanus,  pneumonia,  influenza  and  cerebro- 
spinal meningitis,  in  1895. 

The  above-mentioned  dates  do  not  indicate  the  times  iliat  active  effort  com- 
menced for  the  restriction  and  prevention  of  each  disease;  in  some  instances  it 
commenced  before  and  in  other  instances  the  effort  commenced  after  the  disease 
was  formally  declared  to  be  a  dangerous  communicable  disease. 

In  the  public-health  laws,  four  expressions  are  used:  "Sickness  dangerous  to  the 
public  health,"  "disease  dangerous  to  the  public  health."  "communicable  disease 
dangerous  to  the  public  health,"  and  "dangerous  communicable  diseases."  Each  of 
these  expressions  may  represent  a  different  classification  of  the  diseases  in  accord- 
ance with  the  purposes  of  the  various  sections  of  State  law. 

Michigan  Plan  for  the  Restriction  of  the  Dange'-ous  Diseases. 

Section  1675  and  1676  Howell's  Statutes  require  each  hou.seholder.  hotel  keeper, 
keeper  of  a  boarding  house  or  tenant,  and  physician  to  immediately  give  notice 
thereof  to  the  health  officer  of  the  township,  city  or  village,  of  any  ease  of  small- 
pox, scarlet  fever,  diphtheria,  or  any  other  disease  dangerous  to  the  public  health. 
Act  137,  laws  of  1883,  requires  the  local  health  officers  to  keep  the  secretary  of  the 
State  Board  of  Health  constantly  informed  respecting  every  outbreak  of  a  dangerous 
disease.  The  first  report  of  an  outbreak  is  sometimes  made  ]»y  letter,  by  postal 
card,  etc.,  but  more  frequently  upon  a  special  outbreak  blank  IL\  for  reporting 
the  first  case.  As  soon  as  the  first  information  reaches  the  orti<e  of  the  State 
Board,  the  account  of  the  outbreak  is  immediately  opened  in  a  iMx.k  l"<.r  tliat  special 
disease;  a  "blue  letter"  of  instructions  relating  to  that  disease  is  imnu'diately  sent, 
together  with  blanks  [M]  for  making  weekly  reports  to  the  Board;  and  there 
are  also  sent  several  copies  of  the  leaflet  that  relates  especially  to  the  restriction 
and  prevention  of  the  disease  in  question;  the  health  officer  is  recpiested  to  dis- 
tribute these  leaflets  not  only  to  the  family  but  to  the  neiglil)ors  of  the  family  in 
which  the  disease  exists.  Thus  the  record  of  the  outbreak  is  opened,  a  book  account 
with  that  disease  started.     Every  weekly  report  re<M'ived   from  a   health  oflicer  is 


22  A  Quarter  Cextuky  of  Public-Health 

credited  to  that  account;  and,  if  iie  fails  to  make  the  weekly  reporfj  so  long  as 
the  disease  lasts,  he  is  reminded  of  the  failure  by  postal  card  or  by  letter. 

Relating  to  each  disease,  there  is  a  specially-prepared  final  report  blank;  and, 
at  the  end  of  the  outbreak,  one  of  these  blanks  is  sent  the  health  officer,  with 
stamped  envelope  for  its  return,  with  request  that,  after  sufficient  time  has  elapsed 
after  the  last  case  has  recovered  or  died,  the  blank  be.  properly  filled  and  returned 

to  the  central  office. 

In  addition  to  the  reports  just  mentioned,  each  health  officer  is,  at  the  end  of 
the  year,  required  to  make  an  "annual  report"  of  the  diseases  that  occurred  during 

the  year. 

It  is  essential  that  these  reports  be  made  on  the  specially-prepared  blanks, 
because  it  is  practicable  to  secure  therefrom  the  information  wished  for  compila- 
tion, which  it  would  not  be  practicable  to  sift  out  from  letters,  postal  cards,  etc. 

From  all  these  reports  spring  the  communicable-disease  statistics. 

Communicable=Disease  Statistics. 

From  reports  from  all  sources,  one  branch  of  the  office  force  compiles  the  data 
contained  therein,  using  numerous  different  working  blanks  which  have  been 
evolved  after  years  of  experience  in  the  work  and  learning  just  what  kind  of  a  blank 
will  best  facilitate  the  work.  Each  compilation  relates  to  a  certain  disease;  and, 
together  with  letters,  and  other  information  of  interest,  the  data  in  the  office  book 
are  worked  into  an  article  relating  to  a  specific  disease  in  Michigan  during  a  certain 
year.  These  articles  are  carefully  prepared  with  statistical  studies  of  the  normal 
and  of  the  peculiar  conditions,  are  printed  in  the  annual  reports  of  the  Board,  and 
form  the  communicable-disease  statistics  of  the  office.  There  are  articles  relative 
to:  Diphtheria,  scarlet  fever,  measles,  typhoid  fever,  whooping-cough,  consumption, 
etc.  Articles  of  this  nature  have  appeared  in  the  annual  reports  of  the  Board  from 
year  to  year;  and,  in  recent  years,  have  been  reprinted  from  the  annual  reports  in 
pamphlet  form,  expediting  the  distribution  and  enabling  the  Secretary  to  supply 
this  portion  of  his  report  in  separate  form,  with  less  expense  for  postage;  because, 
when  an  application  is  made  for  the  communicable-disease  statistics,  it  is  not 
necessary  to  send  the  complete  annual  report  of  the  Board.  Then  again  it 
enables  the  secretary  to  distribute  these  reprints  even  before  the  annual  report  is 
ready  for  distribution. 

Vital  Statistics, — Mortality  Statistics. 

Within  vital  statistics  lies  the  foundation  of  public-health  studies,  and  none  knew 
it  better  than  did  those  framing  the  law  for  the  establishment  of  the  State 
Board  of  Health;  for,  in  that  act,  the  Board  is  required  to  "especially  study  the 
vital  statistics  of  this  State,  and  endeavor  to  make  intelligent  and  profitable  use  of 
the  collected  records  of  death  and  of  sickness  among  the  people."  Although  col- 
lected and  compiled, by  the  Secretary  of  State  the  role  that  vital  statistics  has 


REV.  JOHN  S.  GOODMAN. 


REV.  DOCTOR  GOODMAN 
was  born  in  London,  Eng-- 
land,  October  2,  1822,  and 
died  at  Sag-inaw,  Michigan,  Nov- 
ember 12,  1884.  He  came  to 
America  in  early  childhood,  and 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  brief 
absences,  Michig-an  was  his  home. 
He  studied  in  the  Literary  and 
Theolog-ical  Departments  of  the 
Michig-an  University,  and  in  the 
Madison  University  at  Hamilton, 
New  York,  g-raduating-  from  the 
last-mentioned  institution  in  1850 ; 
and,  during-  the  same  year  at 
Lockland,  Ohio,  he  was  ordained 
in  the  ministry  of  the  Baptist 
church.     His    father  had   been  a 

clerg-3"man  for  more  than  half  a  century*,  and  the  son  emulated  the 
father  in  working-  for  the  g-ood  of  others.  The  active,  helpful  life  of 
Rev.  John  S.  Goodman  extended  over  a  period  of  34  3'ears;  he  preached 
in  many  churches  in  man^^  cities  of  Michig-an,  and  he  g-ave  three  years 
of  his  active  useful  life  to  the  missionary  cause  of  West  Africa.  When 
the  terrible  conflag-ration  swept  over  Huron  count}',  in  1S81,  causing- 
g-reat  devastation,  he  was  appointed  ag-ent  of  the  charitable,  and  with 
the  material  assistance  rendered,  the  help  and  solace  which  he  g-ave  to 
the  sorrowful  and  suffering-  were  of  much  avail.  For  eig-ht  years  he 
filled  the  of&ce  of  superintendent  of  schools  for  Sag-inaw  county,  and 
the  service  he  rendered  in  this  capacity  will  live  as  a  lasting-  memorial 
to  his  usefulness.  He  was  one  of  the  first  members  of  the  Michigan 
State  Board  of  Health,  being-  appointed  April  23,  1S73,  by  Governor 
John  J.  Bag-ley,  for  a  term  of  two  years;  and  April  2(),  1S75,  (roverncjr 
Bag-ley  reappointed  him  to  succeed  himself  for  a  term  of  six  years.  Rev. 
Doctor  Goodman  lived  with  the  belief  that  the  labors  of  a  State  Board 
of  Health  could  not  fail  to  accomplish  g-reat  and  beneficent  results,  and 
he  lived  long-  enoug-h  to  see  much  of  his  prophesy  verified.  Some  of  the 
g-ood  work  accomplished  by  the  Michig-an  Board  can  be  traced  to  the 
impetus  g-iven  by  Doctor  Goodman  during-  eig-ht  years  of  humanitarian 
service  to  the  State  in  connection  with  the  public  health. 


ARTHUR  HAZLEWOOD,  M.  D. 


/ 


K 


\ 


y 


eOCTOR  HAZLEWOOD  was 
born  Sept.  22,  1839,  in  Eng-- 
laiid,  and  has  been  a  resi- 
dent of  Michigan  since  1868.  In 
1866  he  graduated  from  the  St. 
Louis  Medical  College,  Missouri. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  American 
Medical  ^Association,  Michigan 
State  Medical  Society,  and  is  the 
present  President  of  the  Grand 
Rapids  Academy  of  Medicine,  and 
member  of  the  consulting  staif  of 
the  Butterworth  Hospital.  He 
served  also  as  Secretar}'  of  the 
Western  Michigan  Medical  Soci- 
ety and  as  Secretary  and  Presi- 
dent of  the  Grand  Rapids  Medical 
and  Surgical  Society  when  those 
societies  existed.  April  26,  1875,  Governor  Bagley  appointed  Doctor 
Hazlewood  member  of  the  Michigan  State  Board  of  Health  to  fill  the 
vacancy  caused  by  the  resignation  of  Doctor  Bliss,  and  he  served  in  this 
capacity  for  two  j^ears.  In  March,  1881,  he  was  again  appointed,  by 
Governor  Jerome,  to  serve  as  member  of  the  State  Board  of  Health; 
and  January  12,  1887,  Governor  Luce  reappointed  him  for  a  term  of  six 
years.  Doctor  Hazlewood  served  the  State  as  member  of  the  State 
Board  of  Health  for  14  years,  retiring  in  1893.  During  this  long  and 
gratuitous  service  he  wrought  vigorously  in  the  interests  of  public 
health,  he  served  on  standing  and  special  committees,  attended  and  took 
part  in  the  sanitary  conventions  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  State 
Board  of  Health,  contributed  to  sanitary  literature,  and  in  many  other 
ways  worked  for  the  public  welfare.  Among  some  of  the  papers  writ- 
ten by  him  can  be  mentioned  those  relating  to  "Vaccination,"  "Water 
and  the  Water  Supply  of  Michigan,"  "Remarks  on  Infant  Diet," 
"Prevention  and  Restriction  of  Scarlet  Fever  and  Diphtheria,"  "Hints 
on  the  Care  and  Preparation  of  Food." 


Work  in  Michigan,  1873-189S.  23 

played  in  the  pablic-liealtli  work  in  Michigan  has  been  extensive;  from  those  sta- 
tistics the  State  Board  has  gained  much  valuable  information;  it  has  been  able  to 
show  what  diseases  cause  most  deaths,  the  time  of  year,  the  age,  sex,  when  most 
dangerous,  the  section  of  the  State  most  usually  affected  with  each  disease, 
and  also  the  necessity  for  public-health  work.  The  Board  has  been  able  to 
compare  the  death-rates  before  and  after  the  restriction  of  any  si)ecial  disease 
has  been  commenced,  thus  being  able  to  compute  with  considerable  accuracy  the 
number  of  lives  that  would  have  been  lost  had  the  recommendations  of  the 
State  Board  been  ignored. 

One  great  disadvantage  the  Board  has  had  to  contend  with,  however,  through 
most  of  its  existence,  was  the  imperfect  returns  of  deaths.  The  law  was  imi)erfect, 
and  the  value  of  the  vital  statistics  was  thus  lessened,  because  it  was  not  known 
just  what  proportion  of  all  deaths  was  reported  to  the  Secretary  of  State.  For 
many  years  at  least  forty  per  cent  needed  to  be  added  to  the  reported  deaths  in 
order  to  approximate  the  probable  number  of  deaths. 

However,  it  is  gratifying  to  state  that  the  legislature  of  1897  is  to  l>o  con- 
gratulated on  the  good  judgment  it  displayed  when  it  enacted  a  law  which  pro- 
vided for  more  perfect  vital  statistics  by  requiring  their  immediate  return.  The 
statistics  are  returned  to  and  compiled  by  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  and 
the  prompt  and  accurate  work  of  the  local  registrars  is  wortliy  of  high  com- 
mendation; under  the  new  law  about  97  per  cent  of  the  population  is  represented 
by  deaths  returned,  whereas  under  the  old  law  only  about  GO  per  cent  of  the  deaths 
were  returned.  A  "Monthly  Bulletin  of  Vital  Statistics"  is  issued  by  the  State 
Department  at  Lansing,  and  it  is  exceedingly  valuable  to  the  work  of  the  State 
Board  of  Health. 

Life  Saving  in  Michigan  by  Public=Health  Work. 

The  State  Board  of  Health  was  organized  as  a  health-preserving  and  life- 
saving  institution,  and  its  history  exhibits  its  success  in  that  benevolent  work. 
The  first  address  of  the  first  president  of  the  State  Board,  printed  in  the  first 
(1873)  annual  report,  teems  with  suggestions  for  life-saving  work,  which  are  al)out 
as  applicable  today  as  they  were  at  that  time.  Interspersed  tlu-ough  th«>  series  of 
annual  -eports,  and  especially  those  of  recent  years,  will  be  found  statistical  studies 
of  sickness  prevented  and  of  lives  estimated  to  have  been  saved  by  public-health 
work.  The  data  for  these  life-saving  tables  is  taken  from  the  actual  experience  of 
health  officers  in  Michigan,  and  the  estimates  can  be  made  with  more  or  less  accu- 
racy. In  the  report  for  1897  Avill  be  found  such  a  study  tliat  estimates  that 
149^296  cases  of  sickness  and  7,121  deaths  have  been  saved  during  the  seven  years 
1890-96,  from  the  four  diseases  diphtheria,  scarlet  fever,  typhoid  fever  and  measles, 
by  complying  with  the  recommendations  of  the  Board.  The  recommendations  of 
the  Board  are  told  in  three  words— isolation  and  disinfection— and  are  so  easily 
applied  that  there  should  be  no  excuse  for  non-compliance  with  them.  Reprints 
Nos.   472,   495   and  501,   and  another   article  being  prepared    for   tli(^   twenty-fifth 


24  A  Quarter  Century  of  Public-Health 

annual  report,  now  being  printed,  relates  to  this  branch  of  humanitarian  work,  and 
can  be  had  on  application  to  the  office  of  the  Board  at  Lansing. 

Money  Value  of  Public=Health  Work. 

The  money  values  saved  to  the  taxpayers  in  Michigan  through  the  work  of  State 
and  local  health  officials  is  enormous.  As  stated  in  the  preceding  head,  during  the 
seven  years  1890-6,  it  is  probable  that  there  were  saved  149,296  cases  of  sickness 
and  7,121  deaths  from  diphtheria,  scarlet  fever,  typhoid  fever  and  measles,  four 
infectious  and  preventable  diseases.  In  its  annual  report  for  1897,  the  State  Board 
estimates  that  the  total  money  value  saved  the  people  of  Michigan  is  $6,973,680 
or  a  little  less  than  one  million  dollars  per  year.  In  these  estimates  it  is  believed 
that  each  life  saved  represents  at  least  $500— less  than  the  price  of  a  slave  during 
war  times;  and  each  case  of  sickness  avoided  represents  a  saving  of  at  least  $40 
for  funeral  expenses,  and  $20  for  medical  attendance,  medicines,  and  other  neces- 
saries consequent  upon  a  case  of  sickness  from  a  communicable  disease. 

State  Live  Stock   Sanitary  Commission. 

Although  as  early  as  in  1869  the  laws  of  Michigan  empow^ered  the  Governor  to 
appoint  three  cattle  commissioners,  the  law  was  inactive  until  the  State  Board 
of  Health  saAv  the  need  of  a  central  board  of  commissioners  who  could  supervise 
the  interests  of  the  health  of  the  animals,  restrict  the  spread  of  dangerous  disease 
among  animals,  and  prevent  the  spread  of  animals'  diseases  to  man.  Secretary 
Baker,  with  others  interested  in  the  subject,  petitioned  Governor  Croswell,  and 
the  law  w^as  made  operative  by  the  appointment  of  three  commissioners.  This 
Commission  held  its  first  meeting  with  and  in  the  office  of  Secretary  Baker,  and  he 
advised  with  them  regarding  future  action.  However,  there  was  no  appropriation 
with  which  to  work,  and  the  first  step  was  to  secure  more  effective  laws  and  an 
appropriation  with  which  to  carry  out  such  laws.  Act  182,  laws  of  1885,  authorized 
the  Governor  to  appoint  three  commissioners  and  a  State  Veterinarian  to  protect  the 
health  of  the  domestic  animals  of  the  State  from  all  contagious  diseases  of  a 
malignant  character,  and  b^-  so  doing  aid  in  protecting  the  lives  of  the  citizens 
of  Michigan.  The  members  of  that  commission  receive  compensation  and  they  can 
afford  to  give  their  attention  to  the  work.  While  the  State  Live  Stock  Commission 
and  the  State  Board  of  Health  are  entirely  separate  State  organizations,  they  have 
worked  together  for  the  common  cause  of  the  protection  of  the  public  health,  and 
great  good  has  been  done. 

Persons  who  discover  or  have  reason  to  believe  that  any  animal  is  affected  with  a 
contagious  or  infectious  disease,  are  required  to  report  such  fact  to  the  president 
of  the  State  Live  Stock  Commission,  who  at  present  is  the  Hon.  H.  H.  Hinds, 
Stanton,  Michigan.  However,  reports  of  such  outbreaks  are  frequently  made 
by  local  health  officers  to  the  Secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Health,  and  he  imme- 
diately turns  such  report  over  to  the  State  Live  Stock  Commission,  and  at  the 


Work  in  Michigan,  1S73-1S98.  ^  l»5 

same  time  responds  to  the  report  ctilliug  atteution  to  the  law  and  requesting  Uiat 
every  precaution  possible  be  taken  to  prevent  tlie  spread  of  ilie  disease  to 
other  animals  ©r  to  the  human  family.  The  State  Live  Stock  Commission  has 
issued  a  number  of  very  valuable  reports,  especially  one  upon  "(ilanders"  by  Prof. 
E.  A.  A.  Grange,  Y.  S.,  who  for  a  number  of  years  efficiently  served  the  State  in 
the  capacity  of  State  Veterinarian. 

Animals'  Diseases  Dangerous  to  Man. 

Contagious  and  infectious  diseases  in  animals  seemed  to  be  of  so  much  im- 
portance in  connection  with  public-health  work,  that  Secretary  Baker  urged  the 
State  Board  of  Health  to  appoint  a  standing  committee  on  diseases  of  animals  in 
relation  to  public  health.  The  committee  was  provided  for,  and  Doctor  Baker 
was  made  the  Committee.  Besides  laboring  for  the  organization  of  a  State  Live 
Stock  Commission,  other  work  has  been  done,  papers  have  been  written  and  reports 
made.  The  first  report  of  the  Committee  was  a  paper  by  Doctor  Baker  on 
"Glanders  in  Man  and  in  Domestic  Animals"  and  will  be  found  in  the  annual 
report  of  the  Board  for  1879.  It  is  an  exceedingly  valuable  report  and  has  been 
widely  distributed  where  it  was  thought  it  would  do  good.  Another  valuable  paper 
on  "Trichinae"  by  Dr.  Arthur  Hazlewood,  was  printed  in  the  annual  report  for 
1875,  and  was  the  starting  point  of  considerable  effort  to  educate  the  people  of  the 
State  in  the  importance  of  thorough  cooking  of  pork  to  be  used  for  food.  In  the 
annual  report  for  1884  the  Secretary  reported  a  number  of  "Outbreaks  of  Trichi- 
niasis  in  Michigan."  Besides  these  papers  on  glanders  and  trichiniasis,  there  will 
be  found  among  the  publications  of  the  office  and  in  the  annual  reports  of  the 
Board,  papers,  reports,  etc.,  relative  to  tuberculosis  in  animals,  lump-jaw.  rabies, 
and  other  infectious  diseases  of  animals  that  are  dangerous  to  mankind. 

Michigan  Plan  for  Sanitary  Conventions. 

The  credit  for  the  suggestion  for  sanitary  conventions  is  due  to  Doctor  R.  C. 
Kedzie.  At  the  regular  quarterly  meeting  of  the  State  Board  of  Health.  April  9, 
1878,  in  his  presidential  address,  he  recommended  the  holding  of  sanitary  conven- 
tions or  meetings  in  various  parts  of  the  State,  to  consider  and  discuss  su])j«M'ts 
relating  to  sanitation.  A  committee,  consisting  of  Doctor  Baker,  Doctor  I\«'dzic. 
Hon.  LeRoy  Parker,  and  Rev.  D.  C.  Jacokes,  was  appointed  to  formulate  a  jilan 
for  such  meetings.  The  Committee  recommended  that  they  be  held  in  a  manner 
similar  to  the  Farmers'  Institutes  conducted  by  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture; 
to  be  held  by  the  State  Board  assisted  by  citizens  in  the  locality  decided  upon.  The 
first  Convention  was  held  at  Detroit  January  7  and  8,  1880,  over  18  years  ago. 
Since  that  time  forty-five  such  Conventions  have  been  successfully  hrld  in  various 
parts  of  the  State,  and  have  done  great  good.  The  State  Board  has  thus  been  able 
to  place  before  the  people  by  Avord  of  mouth  the  cogent  truths  concerning  the 
modes  by  which  the  dangerous  diseases  are  spread  and  how  they  are  best 
4 


26  A  QuAKTEii  Century  of  Public-Health 

restricted,  and  other  facts  concerning  the  laws  of  sanitation  and  riglit  living. 
This  personal  contact  witli  the  people  has  enabled  the  Board  to  comply  with'  one  of 
the  requirements  in  the  act  establishing  the  Board —the  dissemination  of  informa- 
tion. 

Before  accepting  an  invitation  to  hold  a  Sanitary  Convention,  it  is  necessary  for 
the  Board  to  be  assured  that  a  sufficient  number  of  representative  citizens  (doc- 
tors, lawyers,  ministers,  teachers,  and  others)  will  cooperate  in  making  the 
Convention  a  success.  If  the  invitation  is  accepted,  a  committee  of  the  Board 
visits  the  locality,  confers  with  a  local  committee  of  citizens,  and  arrangements 
are  made.  The  expense  of  a  hall  for  holding  the  meetings,  local  advertising,  and 
a  few  other  local  expenses  are  required  of  the  locality;  the  printing  and  dis- 
tributing announcements  and  programs,  expenses  of  members  of  the  State  Board, 
and  the  expense  of  publishing  the  proceedings  is  borne  by  the  State.  During  the 
last  eighteen  years  the  members  of  the  Board  have  thus  gratuitously  served  the 
State,  when  it  has  been  a  money  loss  to  them,  most  generally  meaning  that  each 
time  a  convention  was  held  the  work  in  their  every-day  avocation  was  discon- 
tinued for  three  days. 

Conferences  of  Health  Officers  in  Michigan. 

Another  similar  way  in  which  the  Board  has  been  able  to  disseminate  information 
is  by  means  of  the  "Conference  of  Health  Officers."  It  was  suggested  that  a 
meeting  of  health  officers  for  the  presentation  of  facts,  and  general  comparison  of 
views  between  local  and  State  health  officials,  would  enable  the  local  and  State 
officials  to  more  Intelligently  perform  the  duties  required  of  them  by  law.  It  was 
deemed  best  that  these  Conferences  should  be  held  at  the  State  Laboratory  of 
Hygiene  at  Ann  Arbor  where,  by  actual  and  practical  demonstrations,  many  of 
the  subjects  discussed  could  be  more  easily  comprehended  by  all  concerned.  Three 
of  these  meetings  have  been  held:  the  first  was  held  June  15  and  16,  1893,  for 
the  express  puiTpose  of  discussing  "Asiatic  Cholera  and  its  Prevention,"  it  being 
the  time  when  this  country  was  threatened  with  an  invasion  of  that  disease;  the 
second  June  14  and  15,  1894,  to  consider  tuberculosis,  typhoid  fever,  and  small- 
pox, their  restriction  and  prevention ;  and  the  tMrd  was  held  July  16  and  17,  1896,  at 
which  was  considered  summer  diarrhoea  in  infancy,  cheese  and  milk  poisoning, 
diphtheria  and  its  prevention  by  antitoxin  and  by  isolation  and  disinfection,  and 
bacteriological  diagnoses  of  consumption,  diphtheria  and  typhoid  fever.  In  the 
invitations  issued  the  State  Board  urged  the  local  boards  of  health  to  send  delegates, 
and  the  meetings  were  very  instructive.  The  proceedings  of  the  second  and  third 
conferences  were  published  in  pamphlet  form,  and  are  extremely  interesting  and 
valuable  publications. 

Educational  Campaign. 

One  of  the  requirements  in  the  act  establishing  the  State  Board  of  Health  is  that 


DANIEL  COOK  JACOKES,  A.  M.,  D.  D. 


TT^EV.  DOCTOR  JACOKES 
Y^  was  born  April  13,  1813,  at  . 
-^  ^  Charleston,  Montg-omerj^ 
county,  New  York,  and  died  Jan- 
uary 10,  1894,  at  Pontiac,  Michi- 
g-an,  having-  been  a  resident  of 
Michig-an  for  sixty  years.  He 
was  a  Methodist  Episcopal  Clergy- 
man, received  his  degree  of 
A.  M.  from  the  University  of 
Middletown,  Connecticut  in  1871, 
and  his  D.  D.  degree  from  the 
Ohio  Weslyan  University  at  Dele- 
ware,  Ohio.  In  1875  Governor 
Bagley  appointed  him  Commis- 
sioner to  represent  the  Michig-an 
Educational  Interests  during  the 
Centennial  Exposition  at  Phila- 
delphia in  1876.  May  21,  1877,  Governor  Croswell  appointed  him  mem- 
ber of  the  State  Board  of  Health,  in  which  capacity  he  served  the  State 
for  six  years.  In  1882  he  was  elected  member  of  the  American  Public 
Health  Association.  For  many  years  before  his  death  he  was  Chaplain 
at  the  Eastern  Michig-an  As^'lum  at  Pontiac.  As  committee  of  the 
Board  on  "Buildings,  public  and  private,  including  ventilation,  heating, 
etc  ,"  be  was  especially  active,  and  in  the  annual  report  of  the  Board 
for  1879  will  be  found  a  report  of  his  on  "Methods  of  Heating  and 
•Ventilating-  private  dwellings  and  public  buildings  already  constructed.'' 
This  paper  was  extremely  valuable  because  it  pointed  out  means  by 
which  ventilation  could  be  secured  in  buildings  already  constructed. 
The  demand  for  this  paper  was  large,  and  the  distribution  extensive. 

26 


HON.  LEROY  PARKER,  A.  B. 


ON.  IveROY  PARKER  was 

born  in  Flint,  Michig-an, 
Dec.  15,  1844,  and  was  a 
resident  of-  Michigan  for  fort}' 
years.  He  received  his  A.  B.  de- 
g-ree  in  1865  at  Hamilton  CoUeg-e, 
Clinton,  N.  Y.  During-  the  years 
1874-86,  being-  twice  elected,  he 
represented  the  Second  District 
of  Genesse  County  in  the  Mich- 
igan Leg-islature.  May  21,  1877. 
Governor  Crosswell  appointed 
him  member  of  the  State  Board 
of  Health,  in  which  capacity  he 
served  the  State  for  six  3'ears, 
being  president  of  the  Board  dur- 
ing two  years  of  his  term.  In 
1885  he  moved  to  Buffalo,  N.  Y., 
and  began  the  practice  of  his  profession;  and,  in  1887,  with  other  law- 
yers of  that  city,  organized  the  Buffalo  Law  School,  with  which  insti- 
tution he  has  since  been  connected  as  professor  of  law,  and  vice- 
dean.  He  was  awarded  the  $250  prize,  given  by  the  State  Bar  Asso- 
ciation of  New  York,  for  the  best  thesis  on  the  subject  of  "Divorce 
laws  and  the  desirability  of  uniform  divorce  legislation."  Mr. 
Parker  has  devoted  much  time  to  the  study  of  questions  relating 
to  the  public  health,  and  has  written  considerably  on  the  subject, 
especially  upon  the  legal  relations  of  public  health  bodies  and  the 
powers  and  duties  of  health  officials  in  general.  In  1892  Mr.  Parker,  in 
collaboration  with  Mr.  Robert  H.  Worthington  of  the  New  York  City 
Bar,  published  a  work  entitled  "The  Law  of  Public  Health  and  Safety,"' 
which  is  a  very  complete  treatise,  and  is  largely  used  by  the  legal  pro- 
fession as  well  as  by  public-health  officers  throughout  this  country. 
Mr.  Parker's  legal  ability  made  him  a  very  useful  member  of  the  Board; 
he  planned  and  advocated  amendments  to  the  laws  relating  to  the  public 
health,  and  did  much  in  defining  the  duties  of  health  officers  and  local 
boards  of  health  in  Michig-an. 


Work  in  Michigan,  1873-180S.  27 

it  shall  collect  and  disseminate  information.  Pursuant  to  this  requirement,  it  has 
from  an  earlj'  date  carried  on  a  campaijjn  of  education,  a  dissemination  of 
information,  an  education  of  the  people.  Tlie  people  have  come  to  recognize  tliat 
diphtheria  and  scarlet  fever  ai-e  dangerous  diseases  and  are  to  be  avoided,  and 
the  credit  for  this  enlightenment  of  the  people  is  due  to  the  persistent  efforts  of 
the  State  Board  of  Health.  Pamphlets  on  each  of  the  dangerous  communicable 
diseases  have  been  issued  and  distributed  by  the  thousands,  over  500  reprints  have 
been  made,  and  twenty-five  annual  reports  have  been  issued,  all  for  the  education 
of  the  people.  While  the  Board  has  published  a  large  amount  of  literature,  and 
while  the  people  have  come  to  know  that  diphtheria  and  scarlet  fever  are  dangerous 
infectious  diseases,  some  facetious  individual  has  dubbed  the  office  the  State's 
literary  Bureau.  True  it  is  a  literary  Bureau  and  one  to  which  Michiganders  can 
point  with  pride. 

Isolation  Hospitals. 

The  cottage  system  of  hospitals  for  the  isolation  of  cases  of  dangerous  com- 
municable disease,  is  the  plan  that  the  ofRce  of  the  State  Board  of  Plealth  has  at 
various  times  recommended  to  localities  where  the  construction  of  hospitals  has 
been  contemplated,  especially  in  the  larger  cities  of  the  State.  There  should  be  a 
place  of  refuge  where  the  patient  with  a  competent  nurse  or  relative  could  be 
taken,  receive  the  best  of  care  and  medical  attendance,  and  where  the  chances  of 
recovery  would  be  multiplied.  Then,  again,  it  would  do  away  with  the  difficulty 
experienced  in  endeavoring  to  isolate  a  case  of  dangerous  disease  in  the  home. 
There  may  be  only  the  one  case  in  the  family,  and  the  other  members  of  the  house- 
hold may  haA^e  been  exposed  to  the  contagion.  If  the  patient  were  removed  to  a  cot- 
tage hospital,  the  other  members  of  the  family  were  held  under  surveillance  until 
after  the  period  of  incubation  had  passed,  the  clothing  of  such  suspects  and  the 
house  were  thoroughly  disinfected,  isolation  would  be  simple.  The  father  and 
perhaps  other  bread-winners  of  that  household  would  not  need  to  be  held  In  isola- 
tion for  a  great  length  of  time. 

A  recent  plea  for  such  hospitals  is  printed  on  page  204  of  the  annual  report  of 
the  Board  for  1894,  This  plea  is  only  one  among  many  similar  ones  that  members  of 
the  Board  have  made  during  years  past. 

» 
Educational  Hospital  or  Home  for  Consumptives. 

Since  Koch  discovered  the  tubercle  bacillus  to  be  the  specific  cause  of  tubercu- 
losis, since  it  has  been  demonstrated  that  this  microscopic  organism  is  found  in 
large  numbers  in  the  sputa  of  consumptives,  and  when  we  stop  to  tliink  of  the  im- 
mense numbers  of  these  germs  that  must  be  deposited  daily  in  the  streets,  and  in 
other  public  places,  the  restriction  of  the  disease  has  become  practicable.  It  has 
become  more  practicable  because  it  has  been  demonstrnted  whore  and  how  this 
enemy  of  humanity  is  lurking.     It  is  deposited  by  those  suffering  witli  the  disease, 


28  A  Quarter  Century  of  Public-Health 

those  Avho  cougli  aud  expectorate  where  the  sputa  becomes  dried  and  the  germs 
of  the  great  white  plague  float  in  the  air,  are  taken  into  the  lungs  of  some  healthy 
individual,  where  they  find  a  favorable  soil  and  commence  to  reproduce  their  kind, 
causing  sickness  and  sometimes  death.  While  consumption  is  an  extremely  fatal 
disease,  it  is  not  attended  with  such  great  fatality  as  is  commonly  believed,  it  being 
known  that  about  one-half  of  those  who  have  at  some  time  or  other  been  infected 
with  this  dreaded  disease,  have  recovered  and  finally  died  from  other  causes.  It  has 
been  estimated  that  one  out  of  every  seven  members  of  the  human  family  die  w^ith 
that  insidious  destroyer  of  mankind.  It  is  known  that  there  are  annually  in  Michi- 
gan about  three  thousand  deaths  from  this  communicable  and  preventable  disease, 
and  it  is  also  known  that  many  of  these  lives  could  have  been  saved  had  they  been 
surrounded  with  the  proper  sanitary  environments.  Had  these  unfortunates  been 
under  the  management  of  some  sanitary  home  or  hospital,  not  only  their  lives  might 
have  been  saved,  but  the  lives  of  many  innocent  and  healthy  human  beings 
would  not  have  been  sacrificed.  There  should  be  built  in  Michigan  one  or  more 
hospitals  or  homes  where  this  class  of  unfortunates  could  go  and  receive  care, 
attention  and  education  in  accordance  with  the  most  recent  and  improved  meth- 
ods. There  are  a  few  such  institutions  in  this  country,  but  comparatively  many 
more  in  Europe;  they  are  not  asylums,  prisons,  nor  penitentiaries;  they  are  hospitals 
or  homes,  not  only  for  the  scientific  care  of  consumptives,  but  are  schools  for  the 
education  of  that  class  of  individuals  in  the  way  by  which  the  disease  is  spread 
and  how  it  can  be  prevented. 

The  State  Board  of  Health  has  labored  for  such  State  home  for  consumptives. 
Secretary  Baker  first  brought  the  subject  to  the  attention  of  the  Board  at  its  meet- 
ing April  6,  1894,  the  proposition  was  well  received,  and  the  utility  of  such  an  insti- 
tution was  readily  recognized.  The  subject  was  referred  to  Professor  Vaughan, 
who  reported  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Board,  when  preambles  and  resolutions 
were  adopted,  briefly  advancing  the  needs  for,  and  value  of,  and  asking  that  the  legis- 
lature }nake  a  small  appropriation  for  such  a  hospital.  A  bill  was  framed  under 
the  direction  of  the  State  Board,  and  was  introduced  in  the  house  of  representatives 
by  the  Hon.  Byron  S.  Waite,  aud  in  the  senate  by  the  Hon.  O.  A.  Janes,  but  the 
bill  was  never  reported  from  either  of  the  committees  to  whom  it  was  referred.  A 
copy  of  the  bill  is  printed  on  page  xxix  of  the  annual  report  for  1895. 

The  educational  campaign  marches  steadily  on,  and  the  time  is  not  far  distant 
when  such  a  public  sentiment  will  be  arrayed  as  to  demand  the  building  of  such  a 
State  Home  for  Consumptives.  In  the  meantime  let  some  one  of  our  many  benevo- 
lent and  public-spirited  millionaires  bequeath  a  sum  sufficient  for  the  erection  and 
equipment  of  such  a  Home  that  will  send  his  name  down  to  posterity,  he  will  be 
known  as  a  public  benefactor,  and  the  results  of  his  act  will  be  a  monument 
greater  than  imagination  can  picture. 

Sanitary  Science  in  the  Schoofs. 

The  educational  campaign  carried  on  by  the  State  Board  has  reached  mainly 


WoKK  IN  Michigan,  1873-1808.  29 

the  adult  population,  and  with  them  has  had  telling  effect.  But,  to  the  mind  of 
the  writer,  the  Board  has  never  in  all  its  existence  taken  up  a  work  of  such  great 
import  to  the  State— the  future  health  and  welfare  of  the  present  and  coming  gen- 
erations—as that  provided  for  by  the  legislatures  of  1805  and  1807,  wliicli  re- 
quires that  there  shall  be  taught  in  every  public  school  in  Michigan  llie  modes 
by  which  the  dangerous  communicable  diseases  are  spread  and  the  best  meth- 
ods for  their  restriction  and  prevention.  The  great  benelits  that  this  new  worlc 
will  confer  cannot  now^  be  estimated,  because  the  work  has  practically  only 
been  commenced.  It  is  difhcult  to  have  such  a  system  take  immediate  effect; 
it  will  necessarilj'  go  through  a  process  of  evolution;  but,  before  many  years 
have  passed  the  results  will  have  assumed  proportions  which  will  make  them  a  liv- 
ing monument  to  a  portion  of  the  unselfish  and  gratuitous  work  of  the  Michigan 
State  Board  of  Health. 

In  order  to  comply  with  the  statutory  requirement,  the  Board  has  issued  and 
widely  distributed  a  leaflet  [226]  which,  in  a  short  and  concise  manner  tells  how 
the  dangerous  diseases  are  spread,  and  how  they  may  be  restricted  and  prevented. 
It  is  hoped  that  an  important  advance  will  be  made  w^hen  the  Board  issues  the  more 
extensive  teachers'  manual,  now  in  process  of  construction.  The  Board  will  in  time 
be  able  to  place  in  the  hand  of  each  teacher  a  complete  plan  by  which  that  teacher 
can  even  more  fully  comply  with  the  law;  but,  for  the  present,  the  teaching  of  the 
"data  and  statements"  supplied  in  the  leaflet  [226]  meets  all  the  requirements. 

In  time,  sanitary  science  will  be  one  of  the  prominent  features  in  the  curriculum 
of  every  school.  There  will  be  large  wall  charts  or  Avail  studies,  after  the  plan  of 
the  Yaggie  anatomical  chart  or  the  Sundaj'-school  catechism,  in  every  school  room, 
to  be  in  plain  view  of  every  child  and  will  serve  as  object  lessons.  Another  advance 
might  be  in  holding  of  teachers'  sanitary  institutes  or  inspiration  meetings  which 
will  bring  the  teachers  together  to  confer  with  each  other  and  with  mendjers  of 
the  State  Board.  These  meetings  might  be  wholly  devoted  to  sanitary  subjects,  or 
might  be  a  portion  or  section  of  the  regular  county  institutes.  However,  these 
meetings  should  be  for  the  teachers  and  by  the  teachers.  They  should  be  con- 
ducted by  teachers,  teachers  should  read  the  papers,  the  discussions  should  be  by 
teachers;  but  the  work  might  be  under  the  auspices  of  the  State  Board,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  State  Board  should  be  at  each  meeting  to  direct  or  observe  its  proceed- 
ings. 

While  this  personal  word-of-mouth  meeting  with  the  teachers  would  be 
extremely  valuable,  there  is  issued  monthly,  by  suggestion  of  the  writer,  a  "Teach- 
ers' Sanitary  Bulletin,"  after  the  plan  of  the  Farmers'  Bulletins,  issued  by  the  U.  S. 
Government  and  by  State  Agricultural  colleges;  such  bulletins  serve  to  keep  the 
teachers  in  constant  touch  with  the  State  Board  of  Health  and  with  recent  sanitaiT 
progress.  Such  Bulletins  are  brief  statements  relative  to  the  salient  facts  coneern- 
ing  each  of  the  dangerous  diseases,  and  relating  to  other  public-health  subjects, 
and  have  been  prepared  by  members  of  the  Board,  but  may  be  by  professors,  super- 
intendents, teachers,  and  others  willing  to  contribute  manuscript. 


30  A  Quarter  Century  of  Public-Health 

Alcohol  and  Narcotics. 

The  effects  of  alcohol  and  narcotics  upon  the  human  organism,  is  a  subject  to 
which  the  State  Board  has  given  attention.  While  it  still  has  a  certain  degree  of 
importance,  and  even  a  relation  to  the  work  of  the  Board,  its  importance  has 
not  recently  been  considered  by  the  Board  to  be  of  such  magnitude  as  to  warrant 
further  special  attention;  the  Board  has  apparently  been  of  the  opinion  that 
there  are  other  lines  of  public-health  work  in  which  it  could  labor  to  better 
advantage  and  with  greater  results;  this  feeling  may  have  been  due  somewhat  to 
the  knowledge  and  belief  that  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  and 
other  voluntary  organizations,  could  well  take  care  of  that  reform  work. 

Earlier  in  the  history  of  the  Board,  its  members  gave  the  subject  much  con- 
sideration. This  subject  was  given  considerable  attention  by  Doctor  Hitchcock,, 
the  first  president  of  the  Board,  in  papers  printed  in  the  annual  reports  of  the 
Board  for  1874  and  1876.  He  proposed  that  the  legislature  should  provide  for  a 
commission  to  thoroughly  study  and  investigate  the  amount  of  sickness  and 
deaths  due  to  the  habitual  use  of  ardent  spirits.  Great  numbers  of  Dr.  Hitchcock's 
papers  were  reprinted  and  distributed  by  the  Board.  Doctor  Plenry  F.  Lyster 
was  also  an  active  worker  in  this  line.  Probablj^  the  most  recent  and  valuable 
paper  (Reprint  No.  394)  on  this  subject  was  written  by  Prof.  Delos  Fall,  and  read 
at  the  Lapeer  Sanitary  Convention,  and  reprinted  and  distributed  in  great  numbers 
by  the  State  Board. 

A  few  persons  not  members  of  the  Board  have  prepared  papers  for  the  Board's 
Sanitary  Conventions:  Doctor  A.  F.  Kinne — "The  Sanitary  Relations  of  a  Single 
point  in  the  New  Physiology  of  Alcohol"  (Reprint  No.  85),  and  Doctor  Henry  M. 
Hurd— "The  Hereditary  Influence  of  Alcoholic  Indulgence  upon  the  Production 
of  Insanity"  (Reprint  No.  201.)     This  last  paper,  also,  was  very  widely  distributed. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  several  papers  on  these  subjects  have  had  a  strong 
influence  throughout  Michigan. 

Coroners  and  Coroners'  Inquests. 

,  The  question  whether  a  person  found  dead  came  to  his  death  from  natural  causes 
or  unnatural  causes,  is  one  of  importance;  it  is  a  question  that  ought  to  be  settled 
in  every  case,  if  any  human  power  can  settle  it.  In  Michigan  this  duty  or  decision 
is  left  to  the  Coroner's  jury,  a  system  which  hias  not  proved  satisfactory.  The 
Board  at  one  time  undertook  to  secure  improved  laws  relative  to  coroners  and 
coroners'  inquests.  The  subject  came  to  the  attention  of  the  Board  in  a  report  by 
Hon.  LeRoy  Parker,  delegate  of  the  Board  to  the  meeting  of  the  Department  of 
Health  of  the  American  Social  Science  Association  at  Saratoga  Springs,  N.  Y., 
Sept.  1877,  which  report  is  printed  on  page  93  of  the  annual  report  of  the  Board 
for  1877.  At  this  time  Mr.  Parker  was  the  committee  of  the  Board  on  public- 
health  legislation,  and  he  made  vigorous  effort  to  secure  a  change  in  the  law.  Of 
his  investigations  he  made  an  extensive  report  (printed  in  the  annual  report  for 


JOHN  HARVEY  KELLOGG,  M.  D. 


BOCTOR  KELLOGG  was 
born  at  Tyrone,  Michig-an, 
February  26,  1852,  and  has 
been  a  resident  of  Michig-an  since 
that  time.  He  commenced  his 
medical  studies  at  the  Michig"an 
University,  and  received  his  de- 
g-ree  at  Bellevue  Hospital  Medi- 
cal Colleg-e  in  March,  1875,  hav- 
i  n  g-  taken  special  instruction 
during"  his  medical  course.  For 
22  years  he  has  been  Medical 
Superintendent  of  the  Battle 
Creek  Sanitarium,  one  of  the 
larg-est  of  its  kind  in  the  world, 
and  has  been  surg-eon  to  a  number 
of  other  hospitals.  He  is  a  life 
member  of   the   British  Gyneco- 

log-ical  Society,  member  of  the  French  Society  of  Hygiene,  founder  and 
life  member  of  the  International  Periodical  Gvnecolog-ical  Society, 
member  American  Medical  Association,  Miss.  Valley  Medical  Assoc, 
the  Michig-an  State  Medical  Society,  and  many  other  State,  National 
and  International  medical,  public-health  and  scientific  associations.  He 
is  a  prolific  writer  on  medical,  sanitary  and  scientific  subjects.  He  is 
editor  of  "Good  Health"  and  "Modern  Medicine,"  two  monthly 
journals  published  at  Battle  Creek,  Michig-an.  May  2'),  187^,  Governor 
Crosswell  appointed  him  member  of  the  State  Board  of  Health,  in  which 
capacity  he  served  the  State  for  twelve  years,  having-  been  reappointed 
by  Governor  Alg-er  in  1885.  During-  this  long-  term  of  service  he  wrote 
many  papers  and  addresses  that  were  published  by  the  Board,  on  sub- 
jects relating-  to  "Domestic  Sanitation,"  "Relation  of  Preventable 
Sickness  to  Taxation,"  "Sanitary  Conditions  of  Public  Buildings,"  etc. 
One  of  the  most  recent  articles  written  by  him  for  the  Board  was  on 
"Practical  Sug-g-estions  respecting-  the  Ventilation  of  Building-s"  and  is 
printed  in  the  annual  report  for  18*il. 

30 


EDWIN  ATSON  STRONG,  A.  B.,  A.  M. 


f 


ROFESSOR  STRONG  was 
born  January  3,  1834,  in 
Otisco,  Onondag-a,  New 
York  State,  and  has  been  a  resi- 
dent of  Michig-an  since  1858.  He 
receiv^ed  bis  deg^rees  from  Union 
Colleg-e  in  1858  and  in  1863  re- 
spectivel^^  He  was  Principal  of 
the  Grand  Rapids  High  School 
for  14  years.  Superintendent  of 
the  Grand  Rapids  Schools  for  11 
3'ears,  professor  of  Natural  Sci- 
ences at  the  New  York  State 
Normal  School  for  2  years,  and 
is  now  and  has  been  for  12  3'ears 
professor  of  Physical  Science  in 
the  Michigan  State  Normal 
School.  He  has  been  president 
of  the  Kent  Scientific  Institute  of  Grand  Rapids,  of  the  museum  of 
which  he  was  for  18  years  curator;  of  the  Michigan  Teachers'  Associa- 
tion; of  the  Michig-an  School  Masters'  Club;  of  the  Michig-an  Associa- 
tion of  High  School  Principals;  vice-president  for  three  terms  of  the 
National  Educational  Association;  has  held  official  positions  in  the 
Sanitary  Association  of  Grand  Rapids;  and  was  one  of  the  American 
delegates  to  the  London  International  Educational  Conference  of  1884. 
July  7,  1880,  Governor  Croswell  appointed  him  member  of  the  State 
Board  of  Health  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  resignation  of  Doctor 
Hitchcock;  and,  in  this  capacity  Professor  Strong-  served  the  State  until 
the  expiration  of  the  term.  He  declined  to  be  a  candidate  for  reappoint- 
ment because  the  Grand  Rapids  School  Board  claimed  his  entire  time. 


Work  in  Michigan,  1873-1898.  31 

1878,  pages  313-320);  and  be  strongly  recommended  changes  in  the  existing  laws 
which,  if  adopted,  would  produce  more  perfect  and  desirable  results  in  the  holding 
of  inquests  upon  dead  bodies.     His  recommendations  were: 

1.  The  abolition  of  the  office  of  coroner,  and  of  coroners'  juries. 

2.  The  appointment  or  election  of  medical  experts  to  make  the  physical  exam- 
inations in  cases  of  persons  found  dead  or  suddenly  dying. 

3.  The  holding  of  judicial  investigations  in  cases  where  crime  is  suspected,  by 
a  magistrate  or  other  than  the  person  who  makes  the  physical  examination. 

Mr.  Parker  being  a  member  of  the  legal  fraternity  could  well  see  the  necessity 
of  the  change,  and  worked  vigorously  to  secure  an  amendment  to  the  laws  of 
Michigan,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  laws  remain  practically  the  same  at 
the  end  of  this  quarter  century  of  public-health  work. 

Inspection  of  State  Institutions  and  Public  Buildings. 

This  work  probably  started  when  Doctor  Kedzie  was  invited  to  examine  into  the 
ventilation  and  sewerage  of  several  State  institutions.  He  found  the  conditions 
bad,  and  recommended  ways  in  which  improvement  might  be  made.  His  report 
is  printed  in  the  annual  report  for  1874.  Following  Doctor  Kedzie's  work,  special 
committees  made  similar  investigations  at  county  jails,  county  houses,  poor  houses, 
and  other  State  institutions,  and  the  reports  of  those  committees  will  be  found  in 
the  annual  reports  of  the  Board. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Board  in  April  1879,  the  Secretary  presented  a  communica- 
tion he  had  received  from  Hon.  C.  D.  Randall,  of  Coldwater,  suggesting  that  legal 
provision  be  made  which  would  require  this  Board  to  examine  all  plans  and  speci- 
fications for  proposed  State  institutions,  and  in  1881,  probably  at  the  instance  of 
Mr.  Randall,  the  legislature  passed  Act  200,  which  has  since  been  amended  by  Act 
86  laws  of  1889,  and  Act  58  laws  of  1897.  Before  the  board  of  control  of  any 
charitable,  penal,  educational  or  reformatory  institution  shall  determine  on  the 
plans  for  any  proposed  building,  or  on  any  system  of  sewerage,  ventilation  or  heat- 
ing, such  plans  shall  be  submitted  to  the  State  Board  of  Health  for  examination 
and  opinion;  and,  when  necessary  the  State  Board  shall  visit  such  institution  for 
the  purpose  of  examination. 

Reports  of  examinations  of  plans  and  specifications,  with  the  recommendations 
of  the  Board,  will  be  found  printed  in  nearly  every  annual  report  since  1881.  The 
law  does  not  require  that  the  recommendations  of  the  Board  be  adopted,  and  in  a 
few  instances  the  Board's  advice  has  not  been  heeded,  nnsatJsfactory  systems 
have  been  constructed  only  to  be  reconstructed  at  considerable  additional  expense 
to  the  State. 

A  special  committee  consisting  of  Doctor  ^Nfilnor,  Prof.  Fnll  niul  Doctor  Bnker 
are  now  preparing  a  statement  of  the  best  systems  of  house  drainage,  heating,  and 
ventilating  with  a  view  of  placing  the  report  of  the  committee  in  the  hands  of  and 
thus  aiding  the  several  superintendents  and  boards  of  control  of  these  institutions 


32  A  Quarter  Century  of  Public-Health 

to  prepare  plans  Tvliicli  shall  be  iu  accordance  with  the  best  modern  methods  of 
sanitary  construction. 

Advice  Relative  to  Systems  of  Sewerage  and  Water  Supply. 

During  the  existence  of  the  Board,  its  officers  and  members  Imve  gratuitously 
advised  with  local  authorities  relative  to  proposed  systems  of  vrater  supply  and 
sewerage,  or  changes  in  the  existing  systems,  and  in  some  Instances  the  advice  has 
been  acted  upon  and  approved  systems  have  been  constructed.  The  holding  of  sani- 
tary conventions  in  various  parts  of  the  State  has  been  the  means  of  securing  better 
systems  of  sewerage  and  water  supply  In  many  cities  and  villages  in  Michigan. 
At  these  conventions  papers  have  been  read  and  the  subjects  have  been  discussed 
from  various  standpoints.  The  proceedings  of  such  conventions  have  been  printed 
in  pamphlet  form,  and  widely  distributed. 

In  July,  1897,  the  subject  of  sewage  filtration  and  sewage  disposal  laws,  and  the 
protection  of  the  purity  of  the  inland  waters  of  the  State,  was  presented  by  Secre- 
tary Baker,  and  the  subject  was  referred  to  the  committees  of  the  Board  on 
'•Water  Supply"  and  "Sewerage"',  Prof.  Fall  and  Prof.  Novy  respectively.  This 
joint  committee  is  making  a  thorough  investigation  of  the  subject,  and  its  report 
soon  to  be  made  will  be  a  valuable  contribution  to  popular  information  on  this 
branch  of  sanitary  knowledge— of  Avhat  has  been  done  in  Massachusetts  and  else- 
where, and  the  need  for  immediate  legislative  action  in  Michigan. 

President  Frank  Wells  in  his  address  to  the  Board  in  April,  1898,  dwelt  exten- 
sively upon  the  contamination  of  St.  Clair  river  by  typhoid  discharges,  in  connection 
with  the  recent  outbreak  of  typhoid  fever  at  St.  Clair  city.  He  thought  that  such 
contamination  might  endanger  the  water  supplies  of  the  cities  and  villages  situated 
along  that  water  course,  and  suggested  that  the  Board  undertake  a  systematic  bac- 
teriological investigation  which  would  determine  just  how  far  that  contamination 
was  carried,  and  whether  it  entered  the  water  supply  for  Detroit.  The  importance 
of  such  knowledge  in  protecting  the  life  and  health  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
towns  and  cities  in  that  portion  of  the  State  seemed  to  be  great,  and  the  Board 
authorized  the  investigation. 

Bearing  upon  the  question  whether  typhoid  fever  germs  can  be  carried  many 
miles  in  running  water,  a  valuable  paper  (Reprint  No.  517)  by  Gardner  S.  Williams, 
C.  E.,  Detroit,  has  been  published  by  the  Board.  The  paper  seems  to  contain  proof 
that  the  typhoid  germs  were  carried  from  Port  Huron  through  many  miles  of 
running  water  into  the  water  supply  of  Detroit,  causing  outbreaks  of  typhoid 
fever. 

In  .January.  1898,  the  Board  adopted  general  resolutions  recommending  that  local 
boards  of  health  frame  and  publish  rules  and  regulations  which  shall  forbid  the 
construction  of  cess-pools  for  the  storage  of  sewage  or  for  use  as  privy  vaults.  It 
has  come  to  the  attention  of  the  Board  that  its  advice  has  been  heeded  in  a  number 
of  localities. 


HON.  JOHN  AVERY,  M.  D. 


^  <B^ 


—    OCTOR  AVERY  was  born 

in  Watertown,   New   York, 

February  29,  1824,  and  re- 
moved to  Michig-an  in  1836;  grad- 
uated from  the  Cleveland  Medical 
Colleg-e  in  1850,  and  has  been  in 
active  practice  since  that  time; 
was  assistant  surg-eon  and  sur- 
g-eon  of  the  21st  Michig-an  In- 
fantr}^  during-  the  War  of  the 
Rebellion;  was  pension  examiner 
and  member  of  the  Stanton  Board 
of  U.  S.  Examiners  for  sixteen 
years;  was  member  of  the  School 
Board  and  of  the  Common  Coun- 
cil of  the  city  of  Greenville;  and, 
for  twelve  years,  was  annually 
elected  member  of  the  Board  of 

Supervisors  in  Montcalm  Co.  He  was  elected  to  the  fifty-third  and 
re-elected  to  the  fifty-fourth  U.  S.  Congress,  and  served  throug-h  b«)tli 
Cong-resses.  He  is  a  member  of  the  American  Medical  Association, 
Northwestern  Michig-an  Medical  Society  and  the  Montcalm  County  Med- 
ical Society,  of  the  last  two  of  which  he  has  been  president.  May,  ISSI. 
Governor  Jerome  appointed  Doctor  Avery  member  of  the  State  Board  ol 
Health;  and,  in  January,  1887,  Governor  Luce  reappointed  him.  He 
served  the  State  for  12  years  as  member  of  the  State  Board  of  Health, 
and  during-  this  time  he  was  president  of  the  Board  for  ten  successive 
years.  From  the  time  he  came  on  the  Board  he  took  a  prominent  part 
in  the  popular  sanitary  conventions  in  his  official  capacity,  it  being  a 
part  of  his  duty  to  respond  to  the  addresses  of  welcome  and  state  the 
objects  of  the  convention.  He  is  author  of  numerous  papers  on  subjects 
relating  to  "Contagious  and  Infectious  Diseases,"  "  Ventilation,"  "The 
Public-'kealth  Service  of  Michigan,"  and  "Pasteur  and  l^reventive 
Medicine." 

32 


VJCTOR  C.  VAUGHAN,  M.  S.,  M.  D.,  Sc.  D.,  Ph.  D. 


E) 


OCTOR  VAUGHAN  was  born  in 
1851  at  Mt.  Airy,  Missouri,  and 
has  been  a  resident  of  Michig-an 
for  24  years.  He  received  his  M.  S.,  Ph. 
D.,  and  M.  D.  deg-rees  at  the  Michigan 
University  in  1875,  1876,  and  1878  respec- 
tively; and,  in  1897,  the  University  of 
Western  Penn.  granted  him  the  degree 
of  Sc.  D.  Since  1876  he  has  been  at  the 
University  of  Michigan  in  the  capacity 
of  professor,  and  for  a  number  of  years 
has  been  Dean  of  the  Medical  Faculty. 
He  is  Director  of  the  State  Laboratory 
of  H3^giene,  which  is  connected  with  the 
University  at  Ann  Arbor.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  International  Congress  of  Hy- 
giene and  Demography, International  Con- 
gress of  Medicine,  Association  of  Ameri- 
can Physicians,  American  Medical  Association,  and  many  other  State, 
National  and  International  medical,  sanitary  and  scientific  associations. 
In  1896  he  was  president  of  the  Michigan  State  Medical  Society.  He 
was  twice  appointed  member  of  the  State  Board  of  Health,  by  Gov- 
ernor Begole  Januar}^  12,  1883,  and  by  Governor  Luce  January  11,  1889, 
in  which  capacity  he  served  the  State  for  12  years.  Conjointly  with 
Doctor  Novy,  Prof.  Vaughan  is  author  of  several  editions  of  "  Ptomains 
and  Leucomains,''  and  has  also  written  many  papers  on  medical,  sani- 
tary and  scientific  subjects.  To  Doctor  Vaughan  is  due  the  credit  of 
discovering  the  poisonous  principle — tyrotoxicon — causing  cheese  sick- 
ness which  will  be  found  mentioned  in  another  portion  of  this  publica- 
tion. While  he  has  written  man}'  papers  that  were  published  by  the 
Board,  his  services  have  been  especially  valuable  to  the  public-health 
service  in  connection  with  the  examination  of  foods  suspected  of  being" 
poisonous,  samples  of  water  suspected  of  containing  the  cause  of 
typhoid  fever,  bacteriological  diagnoses,  and  other  lines  of  work  too 
numerous  to  mention. 


Work  ix  Michigan.  1873-181)8.  3.S 

Surface  and  Sub^soil  Drainage. 

As  ludia  is  the  home  for  cholera,  Michigau  many  years  ago  could  have  beeu  called 
a  home  for  malaria.  lu  an  early  day  Goverumeut  officials  were  sent  here  to  liivi's- 
tigate,  and  on  returning  to  Washington  reported  that  the  State  was  n(»i  worth  ilu.' 
taking. 

While  it  might  not  then  have  seemed  that  Michigan  was  a  desirable  State 
in  which  to  spend  the  summer,  a  great  transformation  has  taken  place;  surface 
and  subsoil  drainage  has  made  Michigan  what  it  is.  Lands  that  seemed  worthless, 
are  now  valuable  farming  lauds;  a  climate  exceedingly  unhealthful,  is  now  one  of 
the  most  healthful  in  the  western  hemisphere;  malaria  has  ceased  to  exert  its 
baneful  influence  on  the  inhabitants  of  the  State,  and  Michigan  with  all  its  pro- 
pitious and  salubrious  surroundings  has  come  to  be  the  summer  resort  of  the  west- 
ern hemisphere. 

These  conditions  in  Michigan  have  been  brought  about  by  many  causes,  but  are 
in  part  due  to  the  efforts  of  the  State  Board  of  Health,  especially  through  the  efforts 
of  one  of  its  members,  Prof.  Henry  F.  Lyster,  M.  D.,  who  made  this  subject  of 
draining  for  health  and  for  profit  one  of  his  special  works  as  a  member  of  the 
Board.  He  wrote  many  articles  on  the  subject,  some  of  which  were  published  in 
the  annual  reports  of  the  Board  for  1S74,  1875,  1877,  1878,  and  1879,  and  attracted 
much  attention. 

An  unique  way  in  which  drainage  had  been  accomplished  in  some  instances  was 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  Board  by  Prof.  Fall  and  is  mentioned  in  the  annual 
report  of  the  Board  for  1S9S,  where  it  was  reported  that  drainage  was  l)eing 
accomplished  by  means  of  artesian  wells  driven  down  through  the  clay  in  low 
places  sufficiently  far  to  make  connections  with  an  underground  stratum  of  gravel. 
Whole  farms,  barn  yards,  stables,  etc.,  were  drained  in  this  way.  The  State 
Board  pointed  out  the  great  danger  to  water-supplies,  and  it  is  believed  that  the 
practice  has  been  discontinued. 

Michigan  a  Summer  Resort  and  Health  Resort  State. 

The  blue  skies  of  sunny  Italy,  the  world-wide  fame  of  southern  Europe,  and  the 
mild  climates  of  southern  and  western  portions  of  North  America  have  their 
charms,  and  the  advantages  of  each  are  proclaimed;  but  while  it  may  not  be  known 
to  all  the  world,  the  Wolverine  State.  "Michigan,  our  Michigan."  has  extraordinary 
advantages;  advantages  for  summer  and  health  resorting  which  are  not  excelled 
by  any  other  State  or  country  having  the  same  area.  Just  take  the  map  and  see 
where  Michigan  is  located!  Judge  for  yourself  whether  or  not  on  general  principles 
you  think  Michigan  has  extraordinary  facilities  for  accommodating  thousands  and 
thousands  of  those  seeking  pleasing  and  healthful  places  to  spend  the  liot  months 
of  summer.  Look  upon  the  map  and  see  how  the  State  is  practically  surrounded 
by  the  Great  Lakes.  There  are  over  sixteen  hundred  miles  of  Lake  line,  and  the 
greater  share  of  that  distance  is  or  can  he  utilized  for  summer-resort  purposes; 

5 


34  A  Quarter  Century  of  Public-Health 

there  are  iu  the  State  5,1T3  iDlaud  lakes  vaiTiug  iu  size,  and  having  a  total  area 
of  712,864  square  acres  of  Avater;  and  there  are  many  rivers  running  through  the 
State,  on  the  banks  of  which  are  delightful  places  for  camping  and  for  recreation. 

At  the  Quarter-Centennial  Celebration  of  the  Establishment  of  the  State  Board  of 
Health  which  is  to  occur  at  Detroit,  Aug.  9,  special  effort  will  be  made  to  place 
before  Michigan's  visitors  and  others  interested  in  public-health  work  the  great 
advantages  Michigan  has  for  summer  resorting.  One  way  which  the  State  Board 
of  Health  has  endeavored  to  spread  the  information  is  by  the  publication  of  a 
souvenir  -Summer  Resort  Directory"  (Reprint  No.  523)  which  is  to  aid  in  making 
Michigan  one  if  not  the  most  popular  summer-resort  States  in  the  Union. 

With  a  view  to  maintaining  healthful  conditions  at  summer  resorts  Doctor 
Milner  has  offered  resolutions  proposing  a  State  Sanitary  Inspection  of  all  summer 
resorts,  in  order  that  the  sewerage,  drainage,  water-supply  and  other  safeguards 
for  the  prevention  of  sickness  and  deaths  at  such  places  shall  be  of  the  most 
improved  kind.  The  State  Board  of  Health  may  secure  some  general  legislative 
enactment  which  shall  be  apphcable  to  all  resorts. 

Abatement  of  Nuisances. 

At  the  time  the  act  establishing  this  Board  was  being  considered,  one  Senator  was 
persistent  in  his  efforts  to  have  the  act  provide  that  the  State  Board  of  Health 
should  be  the  court  of  appeals  or  the  court  of  final  action  relative  to  the  abatement 
of  nuisances.  The  effort  to  keep  this  clause  out  of  the  act,  caused  considerable 
opposition,  and  the  aforesaid  Senator  voted  against  the  Bill;  a  similar  provision  in 
the  act  relative  to  the  first  Massachusetts  State  Board,  was  the  cause  of  the 
destruction  of  that  Board.  The  Board  undertook  the  abatement  of  a  nuisance 
maintained  by  a  large  money  interest,  and  the  money  interest  was  too  strong  for 
the  Board;  soon  afterward  the  Board  of  Health  was  consolidated  with  another 
State  Bo^rd  and  discontinued  as  a  separate  Board.  Most  nuisances  complained  of 
do  not  generally  endanger  the  public  health;  they  are  usually  only  an  annoyance  to 
some  individual  or  to  a  few  persons.  Wisely  do  the  Michigan  laws  give  the  local 
board  of  health  jurisdiction,  and  only  by  advice  has  the  State  Board  of  Health 
stepped  in  and  sought  to  aid  in  abating  nuisances  that  seemed  to  endanger  the 
health  and  life  of  citizens  of  Michigan.  However,  its  advice  is  frequently  asked 
and  given,  and  the  law  governing  the  subject  is  pointed  out  to  the  complainant. 
Accounts  of  this  work,  and  reports  of  special  committees  have  been  published  in 
the  annual  reports.  The  oflSce  of  the  Secretary  has  in  recent  years  compiled  infor- 
mation relative  to  actions  taken  for  the  abatement  of  nuisances:  and  commencing 
with  the  report  for  the  year  1SS8,  these  compilations  have  been  printed  in  the 
annual  reports. 

Venereal  Diseases. 

This  is  a  subject  of  immense    importance,  but  one  attended  with  such  difficulties 


COLUMBUS  V.  TYLER,  M.  D. 


BOCTOR  TYLER  was  born 
in  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  in  1825, 
and  died  in  Ba}^  City,  Mich- 
ig-an,  June  1,  1889.  In  1836  he 
moved  to  Flushing-,  Michigan, 
and  has  resided  in  Michigan  since 
that  time.  He  practiced  medicine 
in  Flushing-  for  nineteen  years, 
and  g-raduated  from  the  Detroit 
Colleg-e  of  Medicine  in  1870,  after 
which  he  resided  at  Bay  Cit3\  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Michigan 
Senate  during-  three  different 
terms,  1877,  1879  and  1889,  and 
died  while  serving-  during-  his 
last  term.  He  was  a  prominent 
politician  in  Michig-an,  having 
held  many  offices  of  trust.  Upon 
receipt  of  notice  of  the  death  of  Doctor  Tyler,  the  Michigan  Senate 
and  House  of  Representatives,  by  addresses  and  resolutions,  gave  befit- 
ting- testimony  of  the  high  character  and  worth  of  the  deceased,  and  the 
hig-h  esteem  with  which  he  was  held  b}^  his  fellow  associates.  An 
abstract  of  these  memorial  exercises  will  be  found  printed  in  the  annual 
report  of  the  Board  for  1890.  Doctor  Tyler  was  president  of  the  Bay 
County  Medical  Society  and  a  member  of  the  Michigan  State  Medical 
Society,  American  Medical  Association,  and  the  National  Sanitary  Asso- 
ciation. January  12,  1883,  Governor  Begole  appointed  him  member  of 
the  State  Board  of  Health,  in  which  capacity  he  served  the  State  until 
Nov.  5,  1888,  when  he  resigned  in  order  to  give  his  time  to  the  duties 
of  State  Senator,  to  which  office  he  had  just  been  elected. 

34 


PROF.  DELOS  FALL,  B.  S.,  M.  S.,  Sc.  D. 


fROFESSOR  FALL  was  born 
in  Ann  Arbor,  January  29, 
1848,  and  has  resided  in 
Michig-an  since  that  time.  From 
the  University  of  Michigan  he 
received  his  B.  S.  deg-ree  in  1875, 
and  his  M.  S.  degree  in  1882;  has 
been  a  member  of  the  American 
Association  for  the  Advancement 
of  Science,  American  Public 
Health  Association,  National 
Conference  of  Boards  of  Health, 
North  Central  Association  of 
Colleg"es  and  Secondary  Schools, 
National  Educational  Associa- 
tion, and  the  Michigan  State 
Teachers'  Association,  of  which 
he  was  president  in  1897.  Dur- 
ing* the  years  1890-98,  he  has  been  member  of  the  Albion  Board  of 
Education;  during  1894-96  he  was  a  member  of  the  Common  Council 
of  Albion;  and,  for  the  past  20  years  has  been  connected  with  Albion 
College  as  professor  of  chemistr}^  and  in  recognition  of  meritorious 
service,  Albion  College  conferred  the  degree  of  Sc.  D.  in  1898. 
Since  1889  Prof.  Fall  has  served  the  State  as  member  of  the  State  Board 
of  Health,  being  appointed  in  January,  1889,  by  Governor  Luce,  and 
reappointed  in  May,  1895,  by  Governor  Rich.  Prof.  Fall's  many  years 
identification  with  the  educational  interests  of  the  State  has  made  him 
especially  valuable  and  helpful  in  connection  with  the  campaign  of 
education  in  which  the  Board  is  so  vigorously  engaged.  At  the  san- 
itary conventions  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  Board  he  has  been  a 
popular  lecturer  and  his  paper  on  "The  Michigan  Plan  for  Sanitary 
Conventions"  has  been  useful  in  work  of  the  office  of  the  Board.  His 
paper  on  "A  study  of  the  Action  of  Alcohol  on  the  Human  Body" 
was  printed  in  the  annual  report  for  1891  and  its  distribution  has  been 
large.  In  connection  with  the  teaching  in  the  public  schools  in  Mich- 
igan the  modes  of  spreading  and  the  best  methods  for  the  restriction 
and  prevention  of  the  dangerous  communicable  diseases  he  has  written 
a  number  of  papers,  among  which  is  a  recent  one  on  "  The  Teaching 
of  Hygiene   and    Sanitary    Science    in    the    Secondary    Schools." 


Work  in  Michigan,  1873-1808.  35 

that,  altboiigii  the  Board  has  giveu  it  attention,  it  has  not  yet  entered  upon  any 
general  system  of  work  for  Their  restriction.  In  an  article  in  tlic  annual  report  of 
the  Board  for  1881,  Doctor  Lyster  made  a  vigorous  plea  for  the  control  of  sypliilis. 
The  subject  of  State  control  has  several  times  been  presented.  Apparently  tlie 
Board  ha?  all  along  felt  that  there  were  other  lines  of  work  in  wliicli  its  «'tIoi:s 
could  be  directed  that  would  be  of  more  direct  benetit  to  the  people,  and  at  t!u; 
same  time  the  Board  would  meet  with  less  opposition  in  its  undertaking. 

The  ijumense  importance  of  this  class  of  disease  to  society  and  to  humanity  Is 
almost  incredible,  unless  one  is  familiar  with  the  conditions  existing  all  about  us. 
and  with  the  prevalence  of  such  diseases  in  the  human  family,  especially  in  the 
armies  and  navies  of  the  world.  These  diseases  are  among  the  greatest  scourges 
to  which  the  human  family  is  heir,  the  suffering  they  cause  is  incalculable,  and 
it  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  suffering  and  misery  is  not  alone  confined  to  the 
vicious  and  wayward. 

It  is  gratifying  to  see  that  the  public  press,  medical  societies,  and  nearly  all  ..f 
the  medical  journals  in  this  and  other  countries  are  advocating  vigorous  measures 
for  the  restriction  and  prevention  of  these  diseases.  Such  effort  will  educate  the 
people,  and  public-opinion  will  be  so  moulded  that  public-health  work  along  this 
line  will  not  be  looked  upon  only  from  an  esthetic  standpoint,  but  from  the  great 
and  everlasting  benefits  that  will  be  reaped  by  the  human  race. 

Transportation  of  Dead  Bodies. 

For  a  number  of  years  the  transportation  of  corpses  dead  of  communicaltle  dis- 
eases, has  been  under  the  supervision  of  the  Secretary  of  this  Board.  The  move- 
ment started  in  1885,  Avhen  a  diphtheria  corpse  was  taken  to  Ypsilanti,  Michigan, 
and  there  spread  the  disease.  The  attention  of  the  officials  of  the  Michigan  Central 
R.  R,  was  called  to  the  subject,  and  it  was  referred  to  H.  P.  Bearing.  General  Bag- 
gage Agent  of  that  railroad.  A  committee  of  the  American  Association  of  (Jeneral 
Baggage  Agents  met  in  Lansing  and  conferred  with  Secretary  Baker.  Rules  gov- 
erning the  transportation  of  all  dead  bodies  were  formulated,  and  substMpieiitly 
became  the  rules  of  the  National  Association  of  (ieneral  Baggage  Agents;  the 
movement  in  Michigan  being  the  initial  movement,  started  by  the  Secretary  of  this 
Board. 

For  several  years  the  rules  have  required  the  permit  of  the  Secretary  of  the  State 
Board  of  Health  before  a  disinterred  corpse  would  be  accepted,  it  making  ii<»  ditTer- 
ence  vs'hat  the  cause  of  death  Avas.  Before  issuing  sucli  a  pennii  and  in  order  to 
facilitate  the  work  and  secure  reliable  information,  the  secretary  has  requiretl: 
(1)  A  certificate  of  the  cause  of  death  by  the  attending  jdiysician:  cJi  jiermit  of  the 
health  officer  of  the  place  from  which  and  of  rl)e  jtlacc  lu  which  the  liody  is  to  be 
removed;  and  (3)  assurance  of  the  health  officer  of  the  place  from  which  the  body 
is  to  be  removed  that  the  corpse  had  been  i)repared  in  a<-cordance  with  the  rules 
of  the  General  Baggage  Agents'  Association.  These  re(piirenients  l»y  the  Secretary 
yet  remain  in  force. 


36  A  Quarter  Century  of  Public-Health 

Precautions  for  exhuming  dead  bodies  are  printed  in  the  annual  report  for  1889. 

At  the  January,  1898,  meeting  of  the  Board,  amended  rules  for  the  transportation 
of  dead  bodies  were  adopted.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  formulate  plans  by 
which  the  rules  could  be  carried  into  effect;  but,  when  the  committee  reported,  the 
subject  was  referred  to  Judge  McAlvay  the  legal  member  of  the  Board  for  his 
opinion  concerning  the  advisability  of  the  Board  undertaliing  the  new  worli.  He 
made  his  report  at  the  meeting  April  8,  1898,  and  discouraged  the  Board's  proposed 
action,  and  the  members  of  the  Board  agreed  with  the  Judge's  finding.  The  report 
of  the  committee,  the  opinion  by  Judge  McAlvay,  etc.,  are  printed  in  the  Quarterly 
Bulletin  of  the  Board  for  April,  1898. 

The  Board  failing  to  see  its  way  clear  to  carrying  into  effect  the  change  in  the 
Rules  of  the  Baggage  Agent's  Association,  the  old  rules  now  govern,  and  the 
requirements  by  the  Secretary  are  in  effect  relative  to  disinterred  bodies. 

Vaccination  and  Re=vaccination. 

Truly  Jenner  was  a  benefactor;  because,  by  making  vaccination  against  small- 
pox a  practical  act,  millions  of  lives  have  been  saved  that  would  have  been  lost 
from  that  terrible  scourge  of  over  a  century  ago.  At  that  time  it  was  believed  that 
every  person  must  at  some  time  or  other  have  the  disease;  but,  during  the  last 
•century  the  ravages  of  small-pox  have  been  restricted,  and  it  is  now  conceded  by 
nearly  all  that  there  is  no  necessity  for  any  person  to  have  the  disease. 

One  of  the  first  worlis  of  the  Michigan  Board  was  to  comrnence  the  education  of 
the  people  concerning  the  efficiency  of  vaccination  and  revaccination.  The  first 
paper  published  by  the  Board  was  by  Doctor  Hazlewood,  committee  of  the  Board 
on  Epidemic,  Endemic,  and  Contagious  Diseases,  and  is  printed  in  the  annual  report 
of  the  Board  for  1876. 

Many  enquiries  where  reliable  vaccine  virus  could  be  obtained  were  made,  and 
the  Board  after  investigation  recommended  virus  supplied  by  certain  dealers,  in 
their  opinion  reliable  and  likely  to  be  free  from  poisonous  and  pus-producing  germs 
that  frequently  get  into  virus  not  prepared  under  sanitary  conditions. 

In  1879  (Act  146)  the  legislature  of  Michigan  authorized  the  board  of  health 
of  each  city,  village,  and  township  at  any  time  to  direct  its  health  officer  or  health 
physician  to  offer  free  vaccination,  with  bovine  virus,  to  every  child  not  previously 
vaccinated,  and  to  all  who  have  not  been  vaccinated  within  the-  preceding  five 
years.  By  the  distribution  of  thousands  of  leaflets  containing  this  law  the  Board 
has  been  able  to  educate  the  people  until  it  is  in  Michigan  generally  conceded  that 
vaccination  is  almost  a  sure  preventive  against  an  attack  of  small-pox,  and  small- 
pox is  practically  an  unknown  disease  in  the  State. 

In  1881  the  Board  published  a  sixteen-page  pamphlet  (No.  54)  on  "The  Restriction 
and  Prevention  of  Small-pox."  and  in  1888  the  pamphlet  was  revised.  For  many 
years  this  pamphlet  was  usefl  for  the  instruction  of  the  people  and  of  the  health- 
officers.  Doctor  Baker's  paper  (Reprint  No.  426)  "Small-pox  and  its  Restriction 
and  Prevention,"  was  published  in   1894.  and  has  since  that  time  taken  the  place  of 


MASON  WILBUR  GRAY,  B.  S.,  M.  D. 


"TAOCTOR  GRAY  was  born 
I U I  July  23,  1855,  on  a  farm 
-L^  near  Troy,  Oakland  Co., 
Michig-an,  and  has  been  a  resi- 
dent of  the  State  all  his  life. 
After  securing-  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  district  school  and  the 
Birming-ham  high  school,  he  at- 
tended the  Michigan  Agricultural 
College  from  which  institution  he 
received  his  B.  S.  degree.  From 
the  Department  of  Medicine  and 
Surger}',  Michigan  University,  he 
received  his  degree  of  doctor  of  ^ 

medicine  in  Jul}-,  1880,  after 
which  he  took  a  post-graduate 
course  in  medicine  at  the  Univer- 
sity' of  Pennsylvania.  He  com 
menced  the  practice  of  medicine  at  the  Ouincy  and  Nonesuch  C()i>per 
Mines  of  Lake  Superior;  and  in  1883  removed  to  Pontiac,  Michigan, 
where  he  has  since  been  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession. 
Doctor  Gray  is  a  member  of  the  Michigan  State  Medical  Society,  Amer- 
ican Medical  Association,  and  American  Public  Health  Association; 
and  since  1892  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Pontiac  school  board,  of 
which  he  is  now  president.  Doctor  Gray  has  been  prominent  in 
local  politics,  having-  been  mayor  of  Pontiac,  during  which  time  he 
pointed  out  the  need  for  a  g-ood,  general  water-supply  with  which  Pon- 
tiac is  now  blessed;  he  has  also  served  as  health  officer  during  two 
terms.  In  June,  1891,  Governor  Winans  saw  tit  to  appoint  Doctor  (;ray 
member  of  the  State  Board  of  Health,  in  which  capacity  he  served  for 
six  years.  During  the  time  he  was  member  of  the  State  lioard  he  was 
extremely  attentive  and  active,  attending  and  taking  part  in  the  sani- 
tary conventions  held  by  the  Board  in  various  i)arts  of  Michigan, 
attending-  meetings,  work  in  standing  committees,  and  other  work 
connected  with  the  public-health  service. 

3o 


HON.   FRANK  WELLS 


R.  WELLS  was  born  in 
the  State  of  New  York, 
came  with  his  parents  to 
Ohio  in  early  youth  where  he  at- 
tended the  Huron  Institute  at 
Milan,  a  college  preparatory 
school;  from  thence  he  came  to 
Michigan  and  settled  in  Howell, 
where  he  was  engaged  in  the  mer- 
cantile business  for  ten  years.  In 
1861  he  moved  to  Lansing  where 
he  has  since  resided.  Here  for 
many  years  he  w^as  engaged  in  the 
drug  business.  During  the  last 
ten  years  his  interests  have  ex- 
tended, and  various  mercantile 
pursuits  have  claimed  his  atten- 
tion. He  has  occupied  his  leisure 
time  largely  in  literary  work.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  U.  and  I. 
Club  of  Lansing,  one  of  the  most  prominent  literary  organizations  in 
central  Michigan,  and  served  that  Club  ten  successive  years  as  its  pre- 
siding officer.  Mr.  Wells  has  been  president  of  the  Michigan  Business 
Men's  Association,  was  the  first  president  of  the  State  Pharmaceutical 
Association,  and  has  been  identified  with  various  public  organizations. 
His  reading  and  studies  have  been  largely  in  the  direction  of  scientific 
research  and  investigation,  and  he  is  the  author  of  several  papers  relat- 
ing to  this  class  of  knowledge.  Among  these  is  one  on  the  Germ 
Theory  of  Disease,  written  at  a  time  when  micro-organisms  as  a  cause 
of  disease  was  still  a  theory  only  with  many.  This  address  was  pub- 
lished by  the  State  Board  of  Health,  and  has  had  a  wide  circulation.  It 
was  this  work  doubtless,  together  with  the  interest  taken  by  Mr.  Wells 
in  public  health  work,  that  induced  Governor  Winans  to  appoint  him, 
on  January  29,  1891,  to  serv^e  as  a  member  of  the  Board.  Mr.  Wells 
was  reappointed  by  Governor  Pingree  in  May,  1897.  He  has  been  pre- 
siding ofticer  of  the  Board  since  1893. 


Work  in  Michigan,  1873-1898.  31 

t  the  larger  pamphlet  relative  to  small-pox,  aud  has  been  sent  out  from  the  otliee 
together  with  a  two-pag'e  leaflet  (No.  IGT)  a  copy  of  one  edition  ni"  w  hich  is  print«'il 
on  page  209  of  the  annual  report  for  1892. 

Michigan  Inspection  of  Immigrants. 

Because  of  Michigan's  geographical  position  and  a  large  part  of  ilie  houndary  line 
being  the  botmdary  line  between  the  U.  S.  and  a  foreign  country,  because  of  the  im- 
mense numbers  of  immigrants  that  annually  enters  the  U.  S.  by  way  of  Port  Huron, 
Detroit  and  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  and  because  of  the  fact  that  a  number  of  out- 
breaks of  dangerous  disease  had  originated  from  sick  or  infected  immigrants,  in 
ISSl  the  State  Board  of  Health  adopted  resolutions  memorializing  the  National 
Board  of  Health  to  establish  a  sjstem  of  inspection  along  the  Michigan-Canadian 
border.  According  to  the  statistics  of  the  U.  S.  Treasury  Department,  more 
immigrants  enter  the  U.  S.  via  Port  Huron,  than  any  other  port  of  entry  in  the 
country  except  the  port  of  New  York.  The  petition  of  the  Board  was  effective  and 
secured  the  proposed  system  of  inspection  which  began  June  1.  1882.  The  inspc*-- 
tion  continued  at  Detroit  until  Dec.  lo,  1882.  and  at  Port  Huron  until  May  :;i. 
1883.  An  account  of  the  inspection  Mill  be  found  printed  in  tlie  annual  reports  of 
the  Board  for  1882  and  1883. 

Act  230,  laws  of  1885,  "An  Act  to  provide  for  the  prevention  of  the  introductii»n 
and  spread  of  cholera  and  other  dangerous  communicable  diseases,"  took  effect  in 
due  course  of  time,  and  rules  for  a  State  inspection  were  framed  and  publisln-d. 
A  copy  of  the  law  and  an  account  of  the  Inspection  in  Michigan  in  1885  will  lie 
found  in  the  annual  report  for  1885. 

After  the  downfall  of  the  National  Board  of  Health,  the  governmental  inspection 
of  immigrants  and  travelers  was  placed  under  the  supervision  and  control  of  the 
U.  S.  Marine  Hospital  Service;  and  inspectors  were  stationed  at  Detroit.  Port 
Httron  and  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  and  continued  with  more  or  less  efficiency. 

During  the  fall  and  winter  of  1891-92  small-pox  was  wide  spread  in  Canada,  and 
the  disease  had  been  brought  to  this  country  by  infected  travelers.  The  Board  had 
secured  from  the  U.  S.  Government  additional  inspectors  at  Detroit  and  Port 
Huron  who  acted  under  the  direction  of  the  Board,  but  Jan.  10.  1892.  these 
inspectors  were  discontinued.  Cholera  was  rife  in  European  countries  and  there 
seemed  to  be  great  danger  to  Michigan  and  the  Northwest.  The  Government  was 
tirged  for  a  more  vigorous  inspection  of  immigrants  and  travelers  and  disinfection 

of  baggage. 

Not  knowing  just  what  the  U.  S.  Government  was  doing  to  prevent  the  invasion, 
of  dangerous  diseases,  a  committee  of  the  National  Conference  of  State  Boards, 
of  Health  made  a  tour  of  inspection  of  Canadian  and  Atlantic  Quarantine  stations, 
and  the  finding  was  not  satisfactory,  and  Doctor  Baker  being  a  member  of  that 
committee  reported  to  the  Board  that  he  believed  that  more  active  effort  should  be 
made  to  protect  Michigan  and  States  further  west  from  the  introduction  and  spread' 
of  small-pox.  cholera,  and  other  diseases  dangerous  to  the  public  health.     T'liirago 


38  A  Quarter  Century  of  Public-Health 

was  preparing-  for  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition,  and  it  was  especially 
important  that  no  dangerous  disease  gain  a  foot-liold  in  tliat  city  just  prior  to  the 
opening  of  the  great  fair. 

While  Secretary  Baker  was  yet  away  on  the  inspection  tour,  l)ut  in  consequence 
of  his  reports,  the  State  Board  of  Health  lield  a  special  meeting,  Sept.  6,  1892,  and 
published  a  quarantine  proclamation  which  started  probably  the  most  complete 
system  of  inspection  of  immigrants  and  travelers  that  any  State  has  ever  main- 
tained. Efficient  rules  were  framed  and  published  under  Act  230,  Laws  of  1SS5. 
and  later  were  republished  under  the  same  act  as  amended  by  Act  47,  laws  of  1893. 
However,  the  Board  met  with  obstacles,  the  authority  of  the  Board  was  denied,  and 
their  rules  violated  by  one  railroad  operating  in  Michigan.  Arrests  were  made  of 
those  violating  the  Board's  rules,  litigation  commenced,  and  was  carried  from  one 
court  to  another  and  finally  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Michigan  decided 
that  the  act  under  which  the  rules  were  framed  Avas  constitutional,  but  that  such 
rules  as  the  State  Board  believed  to  be  necessary  in  order  to  be  of  use  were  not 
constitutional.  Therefore  the  Board  abandoned  every  attempt  to  carry  on  border 
inspection  until  the  law  siiall  have  been  amended.  During  this  recent  quarantine 
inspection  system,  the  Board  appointed  a  special  committee  consisting  of  President 
Wells  and  Secretary  Baker  to  direct  the  operations  of  the  inspection  service.  This 
Committee's  work  was  extremely  satisfactory,  the  work  in  connection  therewith 
was  expedited,  and  tliere  was  no  great  expense  of  frequently  calling  the  Board  in 
special  meeting  to  consider  questions  v^hicli  could  be  settled  by  the  Committee  resid- 
ing in  the  Capitol  City. 

Michigan's  experience  in  the  inspection  of  immigrants  and  travelers  is  an  inter- 
esting chapter  in  tlie  history  of  the  Board's  work.  A  history  of  the  most  recent 
system  will  be  foiTud  in  the  annual  repoi'ts  of  the  Board  for  1892  to  1895  inclusive. 

Notices  of  Possibly=Infected  Immigrants  Destined  to  Michigan. 

Inimigrants  who  liad  passed  "quarantine"  at  some  of  the  eastt  rn  i)()rts  of  entry, 
liad  come  to  Michigan  and  spread  dangerous  diseases.  This  led  the  Secretary  to 
reJiuest  that  notice  of  the  destination  of  such  immigrants  be  given  in  time  that  the 
Central  office  could  pass  the  information  along  to  the  health  officer  of  the  town- 
ship, city  or  village  to  which  the  immigrant  was  destined  in  order  that  the  possibly 
infected  individual  could  be  kept  under  surveillance  and  promptly  isolated  in  case  he 
developed  symptoms  of  a  dangerous  disease.  Such  notices  have  been  regularly 
received  from  the  superintendents  of  immigration  at  the  various  eastern  ports  of 
entry,  and  the  system  has  undoubtedly  done  much  to  lessen  the  number  of  cases 
of  diplitlieria.   sr-arlet   fever,   etc..   in   [Michigan. 

lnter=State  Notification  of  Dangerous  Communicable  Diseases. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  National  Conference  of  State  and  I»rovincial  Boards  of 
Health,  at  Toronto.  October.  1880,  preamlile  and  resolutions  were  adopted,  and  at 


SAMUEL  GEORGE  MILNER.  A.  B.,  A.  M.,  M.  1). 


© 


OCTOR  MILNER  was  born 
May  IS,  1846,  in  Salineville, 
Ohio,  but  has  been  a  resi- 


dent of  Michig-an  for  the  past 
twenty-six  years.  At  the  Mich- 
ig-an Univ^ersit}'  he  received  the 
deg-rees  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  and 
Master  of  Arts  in  1872  and  1876 
respectively;  and,  from  the  Hom- 
eopathic Medical  Colleg^e  of  the 
Michig-an  University  he  received 
the  deg-ree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine 
in  1887,  since  which  time  he  has 
been  an  active  practitioner  in 
Grand  Rapids,  Michigan.  Doc- 
tor Milner  has  been  a  member  of 
State  and  National  Medical  Soci- 
eties, and  is  member  of  the  staff 

of  the  Union  Benevolent  Association  Hospital  of  Clrand  Kapids.  He  is 
president  of  the  Grand  Rapids  Colleg^e  of  Homeopathic  Physicians  and 
Surg-eons.  In  1895  he  received  the  appointment  of  a  professorship  in 
the  Homeopathic  Medical  Colleg-e  of  the  Michig-an  I'niversit}'.  but 
declined  to  accept.  During-  the  years  1872-1885  he  was  prominently 
identified  with  the  educational  forces  of  the  State,  being-  principal  of 
the  Union  School  at  Grand  Rapids.  By  Governor  John  T.  Rich,  he  was 
appointed  member  of  the  Michig-an  State  Board  of  Health,  May  27,  18**3, 
in  which  capacity  he  has  since  served.  As  committee  of  the  Board  on 
"  Building-s,  including-  house  drainage,  ventilation,  heating,  etc.,"  and 
on  "School  hygiene  and  sanitation,"  he  has  done  considerable  labor, 
and  is  now  eng-ag-ed  in  preparing-  a  report  relative  to  better  sanitary 
conditions  at  the  public  school,  building-s,  g-rounds,  etc.  In  the  pam- 
phlet proceeding-s  of  the  Detroit  sanitary  convention  will  be  found  a 
paper  by  Doctor  Milner  on  "A  Study  of  Diphtheria  and  Scarlet  Fever, 
from  the  Standpoint  of  the  State  Board  of  Health." 

33 


HON.  QEORGE  H.  GRANGER,  M.  D. 


© 


OCTOR  GRANGER  was 
born  in  Wayland,  New 
York,  January  17,  1841. 
He  received  his  early  education  at 
the  Danville  Seminary  and  at  the 
Genesee  Wesleyan  Seminary  at 
Livonia,  N.  Y.  He  studied  medi- 
cine at  Wayland,  N.  Y.,  but  when 
the  war  of  the  rebellion  broke 
out  he  volunteered  in  a  New  York 
reg-iment  as  assistant  surg-eon. 
In  1866  he  moved  to  Michigan 
where  he  entered  the  Michig-an 
University  and  g^raduated  from 
the  Medical  Department  in  1867 
and  commenced  the  practice  of 
his  profession  at  Unionville,  Tus- 
cola county.  During-  the  years 
1879-81-82  he  represented  Tuscola  county  in  the  Michig-an  legislature, 
and  in  1880  he  served  the  villag-e  of  Unionville  as  its  president.  In  1888 
he  moved  to  Ba}^  City  where  he  has  since  continued  in  the  practice  of 
medicine.  For  a  number  of  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  Bay  City 
board  of  education,  and  was  president  of  that  board  during-  1887,  1888 
and  1890.  Doctor  Grang-er  being  a  man  of  prominence  in  public  affairs, 
and  being-  a  representative  medical  practitioner  in  that  section  of  the 
State,  Governor  Rich  appointed  him  member  of  the  State  Board  of 
Health,  in  which  office  he  served  the  State  four  years,  resig-ning-  because 
of  the  impaired  condition  of  his  health.  It  is  g-ratifying-  to  state  that 
Doctor  Grang-er  has  reg-ained  his  health  and  is  ag-ain  actively  eng-ag-ed 
in  the  practice  of  medicine.  Doctor  Nov^y  was  appointed  by  Governor 
Pingree  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  resig-nation  of  Doctor  Grang-er. 


Work  in  Michigan,  1873-1:^U:s.  39 


the  Wasliiugtou  meeting  of  the  Confereuee  in  Sei)t.,  ISST.  ilit  resoliiiinns  wtw  \v- 
atHrmod.  The  agreement  was  to  keep  eacli  State  ami  Tiov  iiicial  Hoard  of  Ilealili 
constantly  informed  concerning  outbrealcs  of  dangerous  coninumirMMr  dlsea>es, 
with  a  view  to  conveying  reliable  otlicial  information  rrhnivc  in  ili.-  dangi-r  of 
the  spreading  of  such  diseases.  A  copj'  of  this  agreemeni  is  primed  in  tin-  amiual 
report  of  the  Board  for  1SS7. 

Accordingly,  when  an  outbreak  of  small-pox  has  occurred  in  Micliigan.  the  I'acl.s 
relative  to  the  first  case  have  been  immediately  sent  to  tlie  Secretary  of  eai*h  State 
and  Provincial  Board  of  Health.  Relative  to  diplitlieria,  scarlet  fever,  etc.  ih«* 
Board  has  given  the  information  by  means  of  regular  weekly,  montlily  and  ipiar- 
terly  bulletins  which  show  the  condition  of  sickness  in  Michigan,  and  .-it  inst  w  Mi<h 
places  the  communicable  diseases  are. 

State  Laboratory  of  Hygiene. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Board  in  January,  1884,  the  subject  of  a  w«'ll-e<iuipped 
sanitary  laboratory  for  special  investigation  was  discussed,  bui  not  until  <>ci(»ber, 
188(3.  did  the  State  Board  of  Health  take  action  which  resulted  in  the  establishment 
of  the  first  State  Laboratory  of  Hygiene  in  tlie  World.  At  that  nuH'ting  of  the 
Board  the  following  resolution  was  adopted:— 

While  Secretary  Baker  was  yet  away  on  the  inspection  tour,  Itut  in  cunse<iuen<  e 

Resolved,  That  the  regents  of  the  University  be  respectfully  re<iuested  to  consider 
the  advisability  of  establishing  a  laboratory  of  hygiene,  in  which  original  investi- 
gations,— chemical,  microscopical  and  biological.— sliall  l)e  carrieil  on.  and  attention 
shall  be  given  to  the  subjects  of  the  analysis  of  water,  the  adulteration  of  food, 
and  the  practical  investigation  of  other  questions  in  sanitary  sciei'.re:  regtilar 
reports  of  important  results  of  laboratory  work  to  be  made  to  the  State  r.ojinl  of 
Health. 

A  committee  of  the  Board  consisting  of  Doctor  I.yster,  Prof.  A'aiighan  and 
Secretary  Baker  appeared  before  the  Board  of  Regents  of  the  Michigan  I'niverslty. 
Dec.  7,  18SG,  and  abstracts  of  their  remarks  are  printed  in  tlie  ;iimii;il  report  of 
the  Board  for  1887.  Memorials  to  the  Michigan  legislature,  petitions  to  the  K«Mr«'nts 
and  other  persistent  efforts  finally  secured  the  legal  provision,  .-ind  the  State 
Laboratory  of  Hygiene  was  estaljlished  under  the  direction  and  sniiervision  of 
Prof.  Vaughan,  assisted  by  Prof.  Xovy.  T'nder  tlie  direction  of  these  highly 
scientific  gentlemen,  the  results  of  the  work  liave  been  of  incalculable  value,  not 
only  to  Michigan  but  to  the  entire  world.  The  teaching  of  bacteriology  and 
sanitary  science  at  the  Michigan  University,  yearly  sends  out  many  physicians 
who  lead  in  scientific  medicine,  they  are  able  to  make  microscopical  diagnoses  of 
cases  of  suspected  tuberculosis,  diplitlieria,  tyiihoid  fev«'r.  and  other  diseases. 
the  germ  origin  of  which   has  been   demonsti-ated. 

The  first  quarterly  report  of  the  Laboratory  is  printed  in  the  anmial  report  of 
the  Board  for  18S7.  and  the  results  of  analyses  of  food  suspected  of  lieing  poisonous, 
samples   of   water  supposed   to   contain    the   eatise   of  typhoid    fever,   ete.    will    be 


40  A  Quarter  Century  of  Public-Hp^alth 

found  ill  the  aiiniial  reports  of  the  Board  for  the  year  1SS7  aud  since.  A  brief 
resume  of  the  work  of  the  laboratory  from  its  organization  to  the  present  time,  will 
be  found  in  the  report  of  the  Board  for  1S97. 

Tyrotoxicon — Cheese  Poison. 

Cases  of  violent  but  not  fatal  poisoning  from  eating  cheese  frequently  came  to 
the  notice  of  the  Secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Health,  and  the  cause  of  the 
condition  was  searched  for  by  him  and  by  others,  and  many  chemical  analyses 
were  made  hj  Prof.  R.  C.  Kedzie  Avith  the  same  object  in  view. 

The  symptoms  of  the  sickness  were  those  of  acute  poisoning;  and,  although  few 
if  any  deaths  resulted,  the  sickness  was  extremely  annoying  and  painful.  Different 
theories  were  projected  concerning  the  exact  etiology;  the  coloring  material  used, 
adulterants,  mineral  poisons,  poisonous  plants  eaten  by  the  cows,  decomposition, 
etc.,  were  various  explanations  offered.  However,  in  1883  and  1884  cheese-poisoning 
in  Michigan  seemed  to  be  wide  spread,  and  samples  of  the  suspected  cheese  were 
sent  to  Prof.  Victor  C.  A^'iughan,  committee  of  the  Board  on  "food,  drinks,  and 
water  supply"  and  committee  on  "poisons,  etc.",  to  Prof.  J.  T.  Burrill,  of  the 
Illinois  State  Industrial  University,  and  also  to  Doctor  George  M.  Sternberg,  since 
Surgeon-General  of  the  U.  S.  Army.  Doctor  Sternberg  and  Doctor  Yanglian  each 
made  written  reports  which  are  printed  in  the  annual  report  of  the  Board  for 
1885.  Doctor  Sternberg  isolated  micrococci,  and  concluded  that  it  was  "not  im- 
probable that  the  poisonous  principle  is  a  ptomaine".  Doctor  Vaughan's  exten- 
sive experiments  went  further;  and  after  two  j^ears  of  close  investigation  he 
isolated  a  ptomaine  poison  and  decided  that  it  was  the  cause  of  the  sickness. 
This  substance  he  named  tyrotoxicon— cheese  poison— and  to  Doctor  Yaughan  alone 
is  due  the  credit  for  the  discovery  of  the  chemical  nature  of  the  cause  of  cheese 
sickness,  or  sickness  caused  by  tyrotoxicon. 

Prof.  Yaughan  found  that  tyrotoxicon  was  not  confined  to  cheese  but  could  be 
demonstrated  in  poisonous  ice  cream,  milk,  etc.  He  also  found  that  a  causal 
relation  existed  between  the  tyrotoxicon  and  cholera  infantum,  that  insidious  de- 
stroyer of  innocent  infants,  and  no  doubt  his  discoveries  along  this  line  were  the 
starting  point  of  the  practice  so  common,  especially  in  large  cities,  of  supplying 
pasteurized  milk  for  infant  food,  and  which  has  greatly  reduced  the  mortality 
from  cholera  infantum  and  other  summer  diarrhoeas  of  infants. 

Disinfection  Day. 

In  a  letter  dated  June  9,  1898,  Doctor  Belknap  gave  notice  that  at  the  next  regu- 
lar meeting  he  would  recommend  that  the  Board  take  action  tending  to  cause  an 
annual  disinfection  of  all  school  houses  in  Michigan,  and  recommending  sanitary 
precautions  to  be  taken  in  the  care  of  school  rooms,  forbidding  the  use  of  slates, 
permitting  the  interchange  of  books  only  under  such  conditions  as  render  the 
transmission  of  disease  improbable,  etc.     Resolutions  including  some  of  the  fore- 


HON.  AARON  VANCE  McALVAY,  A.  B.,  I.L.  B. 


JUDGE  McALVAY  was  born 

I  in  Ann  Arbor,  July  19,  1847, 
^-^  and  since  that  time  has  been 
a  resident  of  Michig-an.  He  took 
his  preparatory  course  at  the  Ann 
Arbor  High  School;  from  the 
Michig-an  University  he  received 
an  A.  B.  deg-ree  in  1868,  and  the 
deg-ree  of  LL.  B.  in  1869.  After 
teaching"  school  for  one  3'ear,  he 
entered  the  office  of  Judg-e 
Beakes,  of  Ann  Arbor,  v^^here  he 
remained  one  year.  In  1871  he 
commenced  the  practice  of  his 
profession  at  Manistee,  Michig-an, 
where  he  has  since  resided.  He 
has  always  been  interested  in 
local    affairs,    especially    in    the 

matter  of  improving-  the  public  schools.  From  the  time  of  entcring- 
into  active  professional  life,  Judg-e  McAlvay  has  frequently  been  called 
upon  to  serve  in  places  of  trust.  He  has  been  four  times  city  attorney, 
once  chairman  of  the  board  of  supervisors,  once  prosecuting-  attorney, 
and  for  four  years  deputy  collector  of  customs  at  the  port  of  Manistee. 
In  1878  he  was  appointed  Judg-e  of  the  19th  Judicial  Circuit,  being- one  of 
the  young-est  circuit  judg-es  who  ever  served  in  Michig-an.  After  leaving- 
the  bench  he  resumed  the  practice  of  law,  which  practice  has  been  one  of 
the  most  successful  in  western  Michigan.  In  1885  he  was  candidate  for 
the  office  of  Regent  of  the  University;  and  in  1S95,  before  the  State  Con- 
vention, he  was  candidate  for  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  failing-  of 
nomination  by  a  few  votes.  In  June,  1897,  he  was  appointed  non-resi- 
dent professor  of  the  Law  Department  of  the  Michigan  University,  to 
lecture  upon  equity  jurisprudence.  In  April,  1S')5,  Judge  McAlvay  was 
appointed  by  Governor  Rich  to  serve  as  member  of  the  State  Board  of 
Health,  which  office  he  has  since  filled.  He  has  brought  to  the  work  of 
the  Board  the  results  of  an  extensive  practice  of  his  profession,  and  has 
been  of  very  great  service  to  the  public-health  work  by  reason  thereof, 
and  by  reason  of  his  ripe  experience  in  public  affairs,  and  his  interested, 
apt,  and  judicious  devotion  to  the  work. 

40 


FRED  RICE  BELKNAP,  B.  S.,  M.  D.,  M.  S. 


E) 


OCTOR  BELKNAP  was  born  in 
Rochester,  Vermont,  November  27, 
1862,  has  been  a  resident  of  Niles, 
Michig-an,  since  1873.  He  received  his  B. 
S.  deg"ree  from  the  Norwich  Universitj^ 
Northfield,  Vermont,  and  his  deg"ree  of 
Doctor  of  Medicine  from  the  Bellevue  Hos- 
pital Medical  Colleg-e  of  New  York  City; 
and,"  after  graduating-  at  Bellevue,  spent 
one  year  abroad  taking"  special  work  along 
the  line  of  his  profession  at  the  Hygienic 
Institute  and  Royal  University  of  Berlin, 
and  the  London  School  of  Gynsecology.  At 
a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
Norwich  Universit}^  in  July,  1898,  the  degree 
of  Master  of  Science  was  conferred  upon  Doc- 
tor Belknap.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Michigan  Political  Science 
Association,  and  of  the  Kalamazoo  Academy  of  Medicine,  and  has  been 
president  of  several  local  political  and  other  associations.  He  now 
holds  a  commission,  as  First  Lieutenant  issued  by  the  Governor  of  Ver- 
mont. Doctor  Belknap  was  appointed  by  Governor  Pingree  April  22, 
1897,  to  serve  as  member  of  the  State  Board  of  Health  for  six  years 
from  February  1,  1897,  since  which  time  he  has  taken  an  active  part  in 
the  Board's  educational  work  especially  along  the  line  of  the  sanitary 
conventions  held  in  various  parts  of  the  State  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Board.  He  has  written  several  papers  on  public-health  subjects,  the 
most  recent  of  which  is  one  on  "Healthy  Homes,"  which  was  read 
at  the  sanitary  convention  at  Tawas  Cit}^  in  January,  1898,  and  in  which 
he  deals  with  the  sanitarv  location,  construction  and  care  of  the  home. 


Work  in  Michigan,  1873-1898.  II 

going  mentioued  precautions  will  be  presented  to  the  Board  ai  its  July  ilNJSi  nir.t- 
ing  by  Doctor  Belknap. 

If  school  boards,  and  others  having  in  charge  assembly  rooms  and  other  places 
of  public  gathering,  will  do  what  is  practicable  to  carry  out  the  recomuu'iidatUius 
of  the  State  Board,  it  cannot  fail  to  prevent  the  spread  of  disease.  Disease  will 
undoubtedlj'  be  lessened,  and  no  doubt  that  Dr.  Baker's  curves  showing  that  com- 
municable diseases  common  to  school  children  increase  with  the  oiH-ning  of  school 
will  cease  to  represent  the  facts.  In  order  to  bring  about  a  milliennium  of  this 
kind  the  people  will  need  to  cooperate  with  the  school  and  health  authorltu's. 
When  a  child  is  first  sent  to  school  its  parents  should  take  just  as  much  pains  to 
see>that  its  clothing  is  free  from  disease  producing  germs  as  to  see  that  the  child 
has  had  a  bath,  has  on  a  nice  new  suit  of  clothes,  clean  waist,  etc.  Such  n  rniil  on 
the  germ  causes  of  disease  cannot  fail  to  lessen  disease  and  death. 

Sanitary  Day. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Board  in  July,  1892,  Doctor  Baker  proposed  a  "Sanitary 
Day."'  a  day  which  should  be  provided  for  by  law  after  the  plan  of  the  annual  school 
meeting.  It  was  proposed  that  such  a  day  would  be  a  time  set  aside  by  law  when 
there  should  be  an  annual  public  sanitary  meeting  in  every  township,  city  and  vil- 
lage, when  the  citizens  should  decide  just  how  much  money  should  be  assessed  an<! 
collected  for  public-health  purposes  for  the  ensuing  year.  The  local  health  officials 
should  report  at  such  a  meeting  the  results  of  public-health  work  during  the  past 
year,  and  estimate  how  much  money  would  be  needed  for  the  ensuing  year. 
Further  details  concerning  the  proposition  for  a  "Sanitary  Day"  can  be  found  in  the 
annual  reports  of  the  Board  for  1892  and  1893. 

Carbon  Dioxide  in  the  Atmosphere. 

As  committee  on  climate,  etc..  and  at  the  regular  meeting  of  the  Board  in  Jtily. 
1894,  the  Secretary  presented  the  subject  of  a  decrease  of  the  amount  of  carbonic 
acid  gas  in  the  atmosphere,  and  remarked  that  some  twenty  years  ago  he  had  asked 
the  Board  to  authorize  a  series  of  regular  and  accurate  chemical  analyses  of  the 
atmosphere  with  a  view  to  determining  whether  there  was  any  change  in  the 
amount  of  carbonic  acid  gas  in  the  atmosphere  by  seasons  of  the  year,  and  in  a  long 
period  of  years.  Doctor  Baker  read  from  the  Chemical  News  (Aug..  1803)  which 
stated  that  "the  last  and  most  careful  determinations  of  carbonic  acid  in  the  air 
have  shown  a  decided  decrease  (0.05  to  0.08)  in  the  last  fifty  years."  The  question 
of  the  advisability  of  making  observations  was  referred  to  Prof.  Delos  Fall,  the 
chemJst  of  the  Board.  At  the  meeting  of  the  Board  Oct.  12.  1804.  Prof  Fall  in.tde 
a  written  report  which  will  be  found  in  the  annual  report  for  180r>.  The  report  did 
not  recommend  that  the  observations  should  be  made,  but  did  point  out  methods 
and  apparatus  needed  for  the  proposed  observations. 


42  A  Quarter  Century  of  Public-Health 

Regulation  of  the  Practice  of  Medicine. 

That  the  charhitau  and  iuipostor  are  iiurestraiued  in  the  practice  of  medicine  in 
Michigan  cannot  be  denied;  they  are  conspicuous  hy  their  presence.  They  are  a 
source  of  danger  to  the  very  life  and  health  of  every  man,  woman  and  child  in  the 
State;  and,  although  it  is  true,  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  our  great  and  glorious 
State  is  fnr  in  the  rear  in  connection  with  the  regulation  of  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine; it  is  classed  with  those  States  and  Territories  a  hundred  years  behind  Michi- 
gan in  degree  of  civilization.  For  over  a  quarter  of  a  century  effort  has  been  made 
to  secure  some  legislation  that  would  save  Michigan  from  being  the  dumping  ground 
for  the  worse  than  refuse  that  would  have  the  audacity  to  class  themselves  as  doc- 
tors; a  class  of  individuals  often  not  possessed  of  even  a  common  school  education 
who,  by  the  payment  of  a  small  amount  of  money  to  some  bogus  doctor  factory  are 
granted  a  diploma,  come  into  Michigan  and  practice  their  imposition  'upon  our  citi- 
zens with  perfect  impunity.  Such  impostors  in  a  similar  walk  of  life,  would  be 
placed  where  thej  would  do  no  harm. 

It  can  be  truly  said  that  Michigan  is  today  withont  the  slightest  protection  from 
the  so-called  doctors;  the  present  law  which  relates  to  that  subject,  unless  it  can 
be  amended,  might  just  as  well  be  wiped  off  the  Statute  books.  But  what  is  the 
reason  for  this  unprotected  condition V  There  are  two:  (1)  The  legislators  and  (2) 
the  physicians.  Why  are  the  legislators  to  be  censured?  Because  they  do  not  take 
the  subject  in  hand  from  a  humanitarian  standpoint  and  pass  a  law  which  shall 
protect  the  people.  "Why  are  the  physicians  to  be  censured?  Because  they  are  not 
united  on  any  one  plan.  If  they  have  united,  a  bill  has  been  framed,  committees 
have  been  appointed  from  the  various  societies  to  place  the  subject  before  the 
legislature,  before  action  can  be  taken  by  the  legislatiA'e  body,  the  doctors  are 
fighting  among  themselves.  The  honorable  physicians  should  get  together,  agree 
upon  some  possible  legislation  on  this  suliject.  unite  and  stand  united,  until  the 
bottle  is  won. 

It  is  hoped  that  another  quarter  century  will  not  pass  without  some  change  in 
our  present  law.  Let  a  law  pass  which  shall  define  or  appoint  a  State  Board  to 
decide  what  are  reputable  and  legally-authorized  medical  colleges  and  a  good 
work  will  have  been  done.  It  is  not  well  to  try  to  regulate  the  past,  but  endeaA'or 
to  regulate  the  future.  It  is  not  wise  to  try  to  pass  a  law  which  shall  dictate 
to  the  Governor  just  whom  he  shall  appoint;  this  should  be  left  to  his  good  judge- 
ment; no  Governor  can  make  the  conditions  worse  than  they  are  at  the  present 
Hme.  In  this  work  the  State  Board  of  Health  has  wrought  assiduously  and  nobly 
and  it  cannot  be  said  with  any  selfish  interest;  its  interest  has  been  for  tlie  public- 
health  and  welfare.  It  is  hoped  that  some  day  its  influence  may  so  accumulate 
rliat  a  proper  law  can  be  enacted. 

Legislative  Investigations. 

It  would  be  strange  if  a  State  Institution  that  had  been  in  existence  for  so  many 


FREDERICK  GEORGE  NOW,  Sc.  0.,  M.  D. 


TTXOCTOR  FREDERICK  G. 
lUl  NOVY  was  born  in  Chi- 
-L^  cag^o,  Dec.  9,  1864,  and  has 
been  a  resident  of  Michig-an  for 
the  past  sixteen  3'ears.  He  re- 
ceived his  deg"rees  at  the  Mich- 
ig^an  Universit}'  at  Ann  Arbor 
with  which  institution  he  has 
been  connected  as  11  teacher  for 
twelve  years,  serving"  as  assistant 
in  Org-anic  Chemistry,  instructor 
and  later  as  assistant  professor  of 
H^'g^iene  and  Ph3'siolog'ical  Chem- 
istr}',  and  recently  as  Junior  pro- 
fessor of  H3'g*iene  and  Ph^'siolog'- 
ical  Chemistr}\  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Michig-an  State  Medical 
Society,  Pan-American  Medical 
Congress,  International  Medical  Congress,  International  Congress  of 
H3'g-iene  and  Demog^raphy.  He  was  appointed  member  of  the  State 
Board  of  Health  bv  Governor  Ping-ree  September  17,  1SM7,  to  fill  the 
vacancy  caused  b3'  the  resig^nation  of  Doctor  Georg^e  H.  Granger.  Prot. 
Novy  is  author  of  "Cocaine  and  its  Derivatives,"  1887,  "Directions  for 
Laboratory  Work  in  Bacteriology,"  "  Laboratory  Work  in  Physiological 
Chemistry,"  and,  conjointly  with  Prof.  Vaughan,  is  author  of  several 
editions  of  "  Ptomains  and  Leucomains."  He  spent  the  summer  of  1888 
in  the  laboratory  of  Doctor  Koch  in  Berlin;  that  of  18')4  at  Prague; 
and  during  the  summer  of  1897  he  studied  in  the  Pasteur  Institute  at 
Paris.  Considering  Doctor  Novy's  training  in  scientific  work  and  as 
assistant  director  of  the  State  Laboratory  of  Hygiene  his  appointment 
as  member  of  the  State  Board  was  a  very  wise  selection  by  CHivornor 
Pino-ree.  Even  before  he  became  a  member  of  the  Board,  he  wrote 
numerous  papers  relating  to  germ  life  and  other  phases  of  public-health 
work.  Recently  he  has  reported  to  the  Board  the  results  of  actual 
laboratory  experiments  tending  to  establish  the  efficiency  of  formal- 
dehyde  for   the   disinfection   of   rooms. 

42 


HENRY  BROOKS  BAKER,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 


E) 


OCTOR  BAKER  was  born 
December  29,  1837,  in  Brat- 
tleboro,  Vt.,  and,  except- 
ing- three  years  during*  the  war, 
less  than  a  year  just  preceding- 
the  war  and  less  than  a  year  in 
New  York  just  after. the  war,  has 
resided  in  Michig-an  since  1849. 
When  the  war  beg-an  he  was  teach- 
ing- school  in  southern  Illinois. 
In  the  winter  of  1861-2,  having- 
studied  medicine,  he  attended 
lectures  in  the  Department  of 
Medicine  and  Surg-ery  at  the 
Michig-an  University.  In  Aug-ust, 
1862,  he  enlisted  in  the  army,  and 
soon  afterwards  was  appointed 
Hospital  Steward,  of  the  20th 
Michig-an  Infantry  Volunteers;  in  1863-4  he  acted  as  Assistant 
Surg-eon;  July,  1864,  was  mustered  as  such,  and  from  that  time  until 
the  close  of  the  war  he  was  the  medical  officer  in  charg-e  of  the  reg-i- 
ment.  After  the  war  he  continued  his  studies  at  Bellevue  Hospital  Med- 
ical College,  and  g-raduated  therefrom  in  the  spring-  of  1866;  practiced 
medicine  at  Lansing-  and  at  Wenona,  Michig-an,  until  October,  1870, 
when,  as  a  committee  from  the  State  Medical  Society,  he  went  to  Lan- 
sing to  compile  the  State  Vital  Statistics.  July,  1873,  on  the  day  of  its 
org-anization,  he  was  elected  Secretary  of  the  Michig-an  State  Board  of 
Health,  in  which  capacity  he  has  since  served.  From  the  University  of 
Michig-an  in  1890  he  received  his  A.  M.  degree.  He  is  a  member  of 
many  State,  National  and  International  medical  and  public-health 
associations;  in  June,  1884,  was  made  corresponding-  member  and  later 
Honorary  Member  of  the  French  Society  of  Hyg-iene;  and,  in  1890,  was 
president  of  the  American  Public  Health  Association.  Doctor  Baker 
has  written  many  papers  and  public  addresses  on  public  health  subjects. 
Among-  the  papers  arc  several  on  the  causation  of  diseases — influenza, 
pneumonia,  and  typhoid  fever. 


Work  in  Michigan,  18T:J-181)8.  \:\ 

years  could  have  always  'vsmootlied  the  fur  the  ri,«,-ht  way",  aii<l  ili«'  State  lioar.l 
of  Health  is  no  exeeptiou:  it  has  made  some  enemies  but  vastly  many  moiv  friends. 
Its  lines  of  work  have  tended  to  antagonize  certain  individuals  and  c.Mpnrations. 
but  it  is  believed  that  at  the  present  time  it  has  as  many  staunch  ri-iciids  ms  1i:is 
any  other  State  Institution.  Almost  every  session  of  the  legislatuiT  tlic  animcisiiy 
against  the  Board  is  shown  by  the  introduction  of  a  bill  or  two  to  abolisli  the  ottice: 
hardly  a  session  has  passed  without  such  proposed  legislation:  ])ut  sometimes  tlu' 
activity  and  pressiu-e  for  stich  legislation  is  more  than  usual.  There  .-ire  dilTerj-iit 
reasons  for  the  animus  which  prompts  sucli  hostile  legislation: 

(1)  For  many  years  the  Board  endeavored  to  maintain  a  safe  test  for  illuminailug 
oils  used  in  the  State,  and  it  is  easy  to  uiiderstand  why  those  interested  in  the 
sale  of  oil  should  be  represented  in  the  legislature  by  agents  and  lobbyists:  (2) 
during  the  World's  Fair  and  at  a  time  when  cholera  and  other  diseases  were  lilvcly 
to  be  brought  into  this  country,  the  Board  maintained  a  State  inspection  of  immi- 
grants and  travelers  at  the  Michigan  border,  and  it  is  not  dithcult  to  understand 
why  certain  officials  of  railroads  should  not  wish  the  State  Board  all  liappiness: 
(3)  from  time  to  time  clerks  have  left  the  office  for  cause,  and  it  should  not  be  ditfi- 
cult  to  see  the  reason  why  such  discharged  clerks  should  come  t(»  ilie  legisl:itiu-e 
and  labor  for  the  abolition  of  the  Board;  and  (4)  disgruntled  physicians  who  may 
have  been  prosecuted  for  voilating  the  public-health  laws,  and  misinformed  i)ersons 
who  have  been  beguiled  to  do  things  which  they  would  not  have  done  had  they 
been  correctly  informed.    A  few  such  reasons  have  caused  the  Board  some  trouble. 

However,  the  lasrt  effort  to  abolish  the  Board  was  made  in  1S95,  the  attack  was 
vigorous  and  annoying.  When  the  onslaught  was  most  vigorous,  the  Board  asl^ed 
for  an  investigation  of  the  office,  and  the  request  was  granted.  The  investigati(»n 
was  long,  expensive  and  tiresome,  but  the  outcome  was  most  satisfactory.  lie- 
print  No,  462  gives  a  detailed  statement  of  the  attack  against  the  Board,  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  investigation,  and  also  gives  the  finding  of  the  legislative  investi- 
gating committee.  The  result  of  the  investigation  is  probably  concisely  told  in 
the  first  paragraph  of  the  report,  that  reads:  "AVe  find  that  the  charges  against 
the  State  Board  of  Health  as  set  forth  have  not  been  proved,  in  substance  or  in 
spirit,  in  general  or  in  particular.  And  we  characterize  them  as  unfounded,  and 
undoubtedly  prompted  bj-  ill-will:  and  so  far  as  made  on  the  floor  of  the  Ilnuse 
they  mrst  have  been  the  result  of  deception  itracticed  upon   lueiiibers."' 

The  Friends  of  Public=Health  Work. 

Following  up  a  statement  of  the  opponents  of  the  B(»ar(l.  it  is  well  to  m.-ike  ji 
passing  tribute  to  the  friends  of  the  State  Board  <tf  Health  and  of  health  work  in 
Michigan, 

Those  who  esteem  the  high  character  of  the  work  that  h.is  I n  done,  ami  at- 
tempted to  be  done,  are  numerous,  and  space  would  not  permit  mention  of  ea<h  one 
who  has  aided  the  humanitarian  work  of  the  P.oard.  A  brief  allusion  to  one  m.-iy 
■serve  as  an  example  of  the  otliers.     Among  the  niatiy  atid  long-eontiinte«l  sci  vir.-s 


44  A  Quarter  Century  of  Public-Health 

of  By.  George  E.  Ranney  of  Lansing,  may  be  mentioned  that  for  many  years,  while 
imall-pox  Avas  still  an  enemy  frequently  present,  be  was  an  agent  to  aid  the  Board 
in  securing  promptly  for  each  threatened  locality  reliable  and  safe  vaccine  virus. 
He  has  written  papers  and  atended  sanitary  conventions  at  his  own  expense; 
and,  in  recent  years,  he  has  several  time  represented  the  Board  as  State  com- 
municable disease  inspector,  investigating  and  aiding  localities  in  the  restriction  of 
dangerous  diseases.  He  was  one  of  the  llrst,  in  the  early  history  of  public-health 
work,  to  call  attention  to  the  relation  of  typhoid  fever  to  low  water  in  wells. 

Publications  of  the  Board. 

During  the  quarter  of  a  century,  the  Board  has  published  twenty-five  annual 
reports;  numerous  supplements  to  the  annual  reports,  many  of  which  are  the 
pamphlet  proceedings  of  forty-five  sanitary  conventions  held  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Board;  papers  on  such  subjects  as  the  restriction  and  prevention  of  each 
of  the  dangerous  communicable  diseases,  ventilation,  sewerage,  drainage,  water 
supply,  illuminating  oils,  poisonous  foods,  infant  mortality,  cholera  infantum,  dis- 
infection, school  hygiene,  coroner  and  coroners'  inquests,  meteorology,  rabies, 
glanders  and  many  other  subjects  relating  directly  or  indirectly  to  public-health 
work. 

A  list  of  these  papers  may  be  found  in  an  alphabetical  index,  Reprint  No.  522. 

These  pamphlet  publications  of  the  Board  and  even  the  annual  reports  are  sent 
gratis  to  those  believed  to  be  sufficiently  interested  in  public-hea|»lth  work  to  appre- 
ciate them,  also  in  exchange  for  valuable  publications  from  different  parts  of  the 
world. 

In  addition  to  these  pamphlets  and  bound  publications,  the  Board  has  for  many 
years  issued  circulars  or  leaflets  on  the  "Restriction  and  Prevention"  of  each 
of  the  dangerous  communicable  diseases — one  each  on  diphtheria,  scarlet  fever, 
small-pox,  measles,  whooping-cough,  typhoid  fever,  etc.  Fifty  or  sixty  thousand 
copies  of  some  of  the  leaflets  have  been  printed  and  distributed  about  the  State 
with  a  view  to  educating  the  people  how  dangerous  diseases  are  spread  and  how 
they  can  best  be  prevented  or  restricted. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  why  the  State  Board  of  Health  Office  has  been 
dubbed  the  "State  Literary  Bureau'':  rightly  has  it  been  so  characterized.  It  is  a 
literary  bureau  of  which  the  State  may  be  proud.  May  the  good  work  go  on  and 
may  the  State  Board  continue  to  spread  its  literature  where  it  will  do  good. 

The  State  Board  of  Health  Library  and  its  Card  Catalogue. 

During  its  existence,  by  purchase,  and  especinlly  by  exchange  or  gift,  the  State 
Board  of  Health  has  collected  together  some  eleven  thousand  pamphlets  and 
bound  volumes  which  comprise  a  very  valuable  sanitarj-  library.  The  accessions 
include  files  of  most  of  the  leading  medical  and  sanitary  journals  of  the  world. 

Tlio  library  has  been  very  valuable  for  reference  in  connection  with  the  pre- 


L    HAVE   AWARDED    TH 


of  Cf^anks 


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Work  in  Michigan,  1873-1898.  4:. 

paratiou  of  papers  for  sanitary  conventions,  special  papers  and  lectures,  etc.  The 
library  has  been  a  sort  of  "traveling"  one;  for,  when  requested,  the  Secretary  has 
loaned  portions  relating  to  certain  subjects  to  those  persons  preparing  papers 
for  sanitary  conventions  and  other  occasions. 

What  has  made  the  library  especially  useful  is  an  extensive  card-catalogue  which 
has  been  in  process  of  construction  for  a  nnmber  of  years.  It  is  hoped  that  some 
day  this  card-catalogue  can  be  printed  in  pamphlet  form,  and  the  pamphlets  placed 
where  the  usefulness  of  the  library  can  be  extended. 

An  alphabetical  index  of  the  subjects  and  authors  of  the  publications  of  the 
Board  during  its  twenty -five  years'  existence  has  been  prepared  by  Mr.  Thos. 
8.  Ainge,  and  is  printed  in  pamphlet  form  (Reprint  No.  522). 

State  Board  of  Health  Exhibit  at  World's  Fair  and  Tennessee  Centennial. 

The  Board!3  exhibit  at  the  World's  Fair  was  installed  in  the  Anthropological 
Building,  and  consisted  of  a  set  of  the  annual  reports  and  other  publications  of  the 
Board,  two  large  wall  diagrams,  one  of  which  showed  the  lives  saved  from  public 
health  work  in  Michigan,  and  the  other  showing  the  results  of  isolation  and  disin- 
fection in  the  restriction  of  the  two  dangerous  diseases— diphtheria  and  scarlet 
fever.  There  was  also  a  wing  frame  upon  a  standard  that  contained  twenty  dia- 
grams, most  of  the  diagrams  exhibiting  the  relations  of  disease  to  meteorological 
conditions.  All  the  diagrams  were  photo-engraved,  plates  made  (reduced  in  size) 
and  printed  in  a  twenty-four  page  leatlet.  This  leaflet  was  distributed  in  connec- 
tion with  the  same  exhibit. 

A  statement  of  the  exhibit  is  made  in  the  annual  report  for  1894. 

About  the  same  articles  were  exhibited  at  the  Tennessee  Centennial  at  Nashville 
in  1897,  and  a  leaflet  similar  to  that  reproduced  in  the  1894  report  was  placed  with 
tlie  exhibit  for  distribution  to  those  who  wished  the  pamphlet. 

What  Outsiders  Think  of  the  Work  of  the  Board. 

The  knowledge  of  what  has  been  done  in  Michigan  in  i>ul)lic-health  work  is  not 
confined  to  the  State  alone,  nor  to  the  western  hemisphere.  V>ut  many  congratulatory 
and  commendatory  expressions  of  the  worth  of  the  work  come  to  the  notice  of  the 
Board,  ^^ome  even  from  the  remotest  portions  of  the  world,  and  the  jirineiples  and 
methods  used  in  Michigan  have  been  widely  copied. 

For  its  exhibit  at  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition  at  Chicago  in  1S9.3,  the  Boanl 
was  awarded  a  diploma  and  medal  which  were  given  "for  completeness,  exactness 
and  statistical  value".  An  award  was  also  given  for  the  exhibit  sent  to  the  Tt-n- 
uessee  Centennial  in  1897. 

At  the  International  Health  Exhibition  in  L()ndon  in  1SS4  the  Board  was  repre- 
sented by  an  exhibition  of  some  of  its  work  and  the  "eertiticate  of  thanks"  awarded 
was  such  a  piece  of  artistic  beauty  that  it  is  thought  well  worthy  of  i<iir<tductlon 


46  A  Quarter  Cbintury  of  PuBLic-HEAi/rH 

in  this   publication.     The   orig-inal   certificate  Is  24   by  30   inches,   but  the   repro- 
duction here  given  will  exhibit  what  it  contains. 

The  Presidents. 

The  Presidents  of  the  State  Board  of  Health  have  been  elected  by  the  members 
of  the  Board  from  their  own  number,  and  have  given  earnest  and  thoughtful  w^ork 
exceeding  even  that  of  other  members  of  the  Board.  Each  one  of  them  has  been 
especially  active  along  certain  lines  of  w^ork: 

President  Hitchcock  devoted  an  exceeding  amount  of  labor  to  the  subject  of 
alcoholic  liquors  as  related   to  public  health. 

President  Kedzie  devoted  years  to  the  improvement  of  illuminating  oils  so  far 
as  relates  to  the  safety  of  their  use  by  the  public.  He  contributed  to  the  public 
health  service  of  the  State  that  most  useful  line  of  w^ork,  the  sanitary  convention. 

President  Parker  did  the  State  excellent  service  in  interpreting  the.  public-health 
laws,  and  in  advising  relative  to  the  enactment  of  new  laws. 

President  AveiT  brought  to  the  work  of  the  Board  rare  judgment  and  discretion 
as  to  its  relation  to  the  people.  His  service  on  the  board  of  supervisors  in  his 
county  throughout  a  long  series  of  years  gave  him  experience  which  w^as  especially 
valuable  in  guiding  the  action  of  the  State  Board.  He  was  especially  active  in 
advocating  the  germ  theory  of  disease. 

President  Wells  has  given  the  Board  the  benetit  of  many  years  experience  in 
important  business  Interests,  and  his  services  have  been  particularly  valuable  in 
many  directions.  One  of  the  first  was  in  connection  with  the  State  quarantine 
against  the  threatened  introduction  of  cholera  and  other  diseases  during  the  period 
of  greatest  influx  of  immigrants.  Even  before  he  became  a  member  of  the  Board, 
he  contributed  valuable  papers  on  subjects  which  are  ordinarily  dealt  with  only  by 
physicians;  his  studies  extending  through  many  years  on  the  subject  of  the  germ 
causes  of  diseases,  fitted  him  for  exceedingly  useful  work  for  the  State  on  those 
subjects.  His  influence  toward  guiding  the  work  of  the  Board  in  proper  directions 
has  been  great  and  has  been  highly  appreciated. 

The  Veteran  Secretary. 

Truly  tlie  Secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Health  of  Michigan  is  a  veteran,  not 
because  of  his  advanced  age,  not  because  he  served  through  the  M'ar  of  the  rebel- 
lion, not  for  the  many  l)attles  he  has  fought  for  the  public  health,  but  because 
he  has  served  the  State  long  and  faithfully  in  the  cause  of  humanity.  For  twenty^ 
five  long  years  he  lias  had  his  finger  on  the  public  pulse,  and  during  those  many 
years  he  has  faithfully  and  fearlessly  stood  by  and  held  his  hands  upon  the 
throttle  of  that  great  engine  that  has  guided  public-health  work  in  Michigan  during 
the  past  quarter  of  a  century. 

Fresh  from  the  Avar  of  the  rebellion  and  from  the  labors  of  regimental  surgeon, 
where  his  duties  required  him  to  keep  the  soldiers  from  sickness,  and  in  the  prime 


Work  in  Michigan,  1873-1898.  17 

of  life,  be  could  appreciate  the  need  for  a  State  health  service.  The  movciiu'iii 
for  this  Board  was  conceived  by  him,  and  he  euerj^etically  adv<H'at('d  it  iniiil 
the  legislature  enacted  the  law  establishing  the  Board,  He  was  its  first  secretary, 
and  its  only  secretary.  In  the  face  of  better  prospects  in  other  lines  of  work,  his 
love  for  public-health  worli  would  not  permit  an  acceptance  of  the  proffers.  Con- 
sidering the  nature  of  the  work  devolving  upon  him,  the  remuneration  has  been 
insignificent  compared  with  that  received  by  an  active  practitioner  or  Ity  other 
talent  in  the  various  walks  of  life. 

Much  of  the  progress  made  by  the  Board  along  the  various  avenues  of  its 
humanitarian  labors,  has  been  suggested  by  the  secretary  and  guided  Ijy  him 
through  the  many  stages  of  development,  althoaigh  he  may  not  have  been  indi- 
vidually identified  witli  the  work. 

The  secretary  possesses  an  immense  fund  of  knowledge,  not  only  in  the  lieUi 
of  the  sanitarian,  but  upon  many  branches  of  general  intelligence.  He  has  lieen 
a  prolific  contributor  to  literature,  and  especially  to  that. literature  pertaining  to 
sanitation. 

Doctor  Baker  is  a  man  of  individual  personalities,  a  man  with  strong  determina- 
tion, and  he  possesses  almost  superhuman  energy  and  vitality.  In  seientifie  work, 
in  public  life,  and  in  private  life  he  is  highly  esteemed,  and  is  a  recognized  author- 
ity along  lines  of  his  special  inclinations.  Not  difficult  of  approach,  generous, 
affable,  he  has  beenii  benefactor;  many  an  ambitious  youth  owes  his  success  in  life 
to  the  magnanimous  spirit  of  Doctor  Henry  Brooks  Baker,  for  a  (iuart<'r  of  m  (  en- 
tury  the  efficient  Secretary  of  the  ^Michigan  State  Board  of  Health. 

The  Members. 

During  the  existence  of  the  Michigan  State  Board  of  Health  there  have  been 
twenty-three  different  members,  some  of  whom  have  served  less  than  the  time 
for  which  they  were  appointed  while  others  have  serve<l  two  and  even  three  terms, 
members  being  appointed  to  serve  for  six  years.  Tliis  service  for  the  people  of 
the  State  of  Michigan  has  been  given  Avithout  remuneration  of  any  kind  and  has 
involved  great  and  continuous  labor,  careful  thought  and  at  all  times  great  anxiety 
toperfoiTn  the  best  work  possible  on  subjects  involving  life  or  <leath  to  thousands  of 
our  people.  Much  of  the  work  has  been  done  in  committees  and  under  circumstances 
such  that  general  public  recognition  of  it  has  been  impossi])le.  It  has  liad  to  do  with 
epidemic,  enilemic  and  contagious  diseases,  with  sanitary  drainage  of  lan<l.  sewerage 
and  house  drainage  in  cities,  the  use  of  alcoliolic  liquors,  the  sanitary  construction  of 
houses,  including  the  ventilation  of  public  and  juivate  buildings,  the  examination 
of  plans  for  pul)lic  ])uildings,  the  work  of  educating  the  people  by  means  of  speci- 
ally-prepared pamphlets  teaching  how  the  several  conununicable  diseases  are 
spread  and  how  restricted,  and  on  other  special  sanitary  su1)jects.  the  work  of  the 
forty-five  sanitary  conventions  in  different  parts  of  the  State,  the  .work  of  the 
several  State  Conferences  of  Local  Health  otiicials.  and  numerous  other  lines  of 
effort  whicli   liave  been  carefully   plann<Ml   and    lalxiriously   carried   out.     .\ll    this 


48  A  Quarter  Century  of  Public-Health 

labor  has  been  performed  without  any  compensation  whatever,  and  constitutes  a 
contribution  to  the  welfare  of  the  State  which  is  priceless  and  beyond  computa- 
tion. 

The  philanthropic  men  who  have  done  this  noble  work  deserve  the  gratitude  of 
the  people  of  Michigan.  Seven  of  the  t\venty-three  members  and  ex-members 
have  passed  away,  and  their  deeds  should  be  recorded  and  their  memories  cherished 
through  all  coming  time. 


7- 
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